


Vegas Love Affair

by Emmybazy



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bridge - Freeform, Cards, Gambling, I very very loosely based a character of Hayley Williams but you can ignore that if you want, Las Vegas, Lots and Lots of Card Metaphors, M/M, Minor Character Death, Non-Smut, Non-sequential Story Line, Please do not expect smut for there will be no smut, Poker, casino - Freeform, side larry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-11-01
Packaged: 2018-02-10 17:33:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 88,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2033835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmybazy/pseuds/Emmybazy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke knows cards. He knows the sound they make as they slap together when he shuffles and he knows the feel of a crisp deck against his finger tips. He can list off the rules to Five Card Stud in his sleep and can catch a trick cut with a glance. Luke knows cards. And sometimes he knows people. </p><p>Or; Luke has never loved anything more than a new deck of cards, until he meets Calum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> I still can't get over the reaction to Got to Get Out so thank you again to anyone who kudosed or commented.
> 
> This is really short and more to prove that I'm actually working on something/get opinions on it. 
> 
> I want to say I do not look to closely into any of the boys families, I know some names but other than that I don't like to research them or anything. I actually always feel really uncomfortable writing the parents or siblings. So, while I try my best to write the main characters based off the boys, their families are completely wrong and not written to fit them at all. Merely just place holders because you need parents to make rounded characters. 
> 
> Standard disclaimery thing: I don't own anyone or anything written about in this piece of fiction. This isn't even a comment on anyone's sexuality. Just a story I really wanted to write. 
> 
> Also, I'm seeing One Direction and 5SOS in 8 days. It's happening. I have no idea how I'm not crying right now.

**Three of Clubs**

The first time Luke Hemmings holds a deck of card in his hands, his world seems to make more sense.

Luke’s sitting at his shiny kitchen table, knees scuffed and dirt on his face from another unsuccessful try at football with the other seven year olds. He just can’t get it. The other kids run and kick and laugh while Luke falls on his face.

And it’s not just sports. He’s been struggling at school too. The numbers and letters don’t make sense to him, symbols that don’t really mean much. And that’s why he’s here, sitting at the table instead of running outside for another hour like he’s used to. His parents are tutoring him every night now. Today is maths, with his mother.

“Ok, let’s try something new today.” Luke’s mother takes the seat next to him and places a deck of cards on the table. Luke knows what cards are, he sees the adults play with them sometimes and he has a Go Fish deck upstairs. It has brightly colored pictures of different fish with the numbers in the corner. It was a stocking stuffer last christmas and he doesn’t really play with it much.

But these cards are different. They’re the set his parents play with, a blue pattern of swirls with angels on the back, a rubber band wrapped twice around the center, holding the smooth cards together. The cards are slightly frayed on the corners, a dingy brown staining the edges. Luke is fascinated.

“Go on, you can play with them.” Luke’s mother motions towards the deck. “We’re going to try adding the different shapes-” As she’s talking, the phone goes off in the next room. “I’ll be right back.”

Luke watches as his mother leaves, then turns back to the bundle in front of him. He picks up the deck, turning it to look more closely at the design. Light blue lines on a white background trace out the figures of two angels in the center with four smaller angels in the corners. The cards are bigger than his Go Fish set, his small fingers wrapping around them and feeling the rounded corners under his fingertips. The cards feel stiff in his fingers as he runs a nail along the curving lines around the edges. 

Luke undoes the rubber band, pulling the cards loosely together in his hands. He turns them over. On the opposite side, there are figures and pictures and numbers spread along the cards. Luke recognizes the numbers in the top left corner and bottom right corner of every card. He’s intrigued by a card with a J in the two corners, a young man with a slight mustache and blonde curved, yet angular, hair staring back at him like he hasn't a care in the world.  

He starts dividing the cards based on the numbers, the twos at one end of the table and the tens at the other. It’s slow work, finding spots for all the different numbers within his reach. He pushes all the cards with faces up the table, away from him, not really knowing what they stand for.  Luke also puts the one cards there. He doesn’t understand why the one cards have an ‘A’ in the corner but he can tell there is only one shape per card. He’s looking at one of the ‘A’ cards  when the shape catches his eye. He pulls the matching ‘A’ cards out from the pile of faces and sets them in front of him, curious.

The shapes in the middle of the four A cards are all different. Luke had recognized the different colors but he didn’t realize there were different shapes too. The red shapes are easy to identify, the heart with it’s plump body compared to the diamond with it’s slight curved edges.

It’s the black ones that Luke really likes even though he doesn’t know what either of the shapes are. One’s pointy, a kind of upside down heart with a flared tail, and the other’s more curved and looks a bit like the clovers Luke finds in his backyard.

Luke decides to try sorting out the cards by the shapes, so he pushes all the cards back into one big pile and guides the edges to line up, picking up the pile and tapping it against the table on all the sides to line up the cards into a neat rectangle.

It’s Luke’s first shuffle.


	2. Clubs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nine of Clubs, Nine of Hearts, and Six of Spades
> 
> Or; Luke meets Calum, Luke and Calum talk, and Luke plays Bridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> So I want to post chapters in an orderly fashion, but I get so anxious once something is actually finished that I'll just end up posting as soon as each chapter is done anyways. And with school starting soon, expect it to be sporadic (sorry).  
> The story is not told chronologically. Just putting that out there so it's not the most confusing thing when they go back in time. Also, card number and suit rank tell you at what point in time the part takes place(ex. the nine of clubs represents Luke at 32, six of spades is Luke at 21, Queen of spades will be Luke at 37, etc).
> 
> Card words that might possibly not make sense AKA Glossary:  
> A mark: A target for professional gamblers/tricksters/card manipulators to try and take their money. Appear unskilled and ignorant.  
> Riffle Shuffle: A trick shuffle where the deck is split evenly and the cards are interlaced together, many times ending in a bridge and can be referred to as a bridge shuffle but not in this fic.  
> Faro shuffle/to faro: To perfectly interlace the cards in a riffle shuffle. If one side was all spades and the other was all hearts, a faroed deck would have the cards spade-heart-spade-heart, etc.  
> The House: The idea in casinos that it's the player against the casino, like a battle of sorts where the house has the upper hand.  
> Sleights, trick cuts, false shuffles: All terms referring to different ways to manipulate cards to make marks believe one thing is happening with the cards while the manipulator is doing something else.  
> Bridge: A real complicated card game that has more layers than I will ever understand even though I know how to play. Just understand that people take bridge uber seriously.  
> The dummy: A rule in bridge. When a player takes a bid, their partner lays their cards on the table. This is called the dummy hand. 
> 
> I think that's all in this chapter. If anyone has questions about any of the other card bits, feel free to ask. Let's hope since I wrote it I actually know how to explain it. 
> 
> Hope this isn't a let down for anyone!

**Nine of Clubs**

“No, this is too far into the aisle. Push the table back and push the chairs in, please.” Luke feels kind of bad for the dealer. The guy, Rick, Luke’s pretty sure his name is Rick, is probably twenty years Luke’s senior yet has to take orders from a guy like Luke. A guy who looks green, a mark in Vegas. Of course, all the best players look like marks.

But Luke is not a player. He will never play a hand at the tables being set up around them. It would be a conflict of interest. You can’t play at your own casino.

Well, not his casino per se. It's Harry’s. But Luke had had final say on his portion of the giant hotel, casino, and resort. As the manager of the two floors of the Casino at the new Styles hotel, he wields a lot of power around here.

Luke reaches into his jeans pocket. Today would be the last day jeans would be acceptable as work attire. Harry didn’t care what they wore during construction or set up, but tomorrow is opening day.

For Luke's last casual day he opted for a pair of his nicest jeans with a starched, crisp, white shirt and a sports jacket, hair quiffed up as usual. Luke reaches down to the hem of his jean pocket and calm rushes over his body as he touches the top of his cards. Most people think the bulge in his pocket is a badly placed wallet, but it’s always whatever deck of cards he’s using at the moment. The deck in his pocket now is a gift from Ashton, the hotel manager, from when they broke ground. A cheesy souvenir pack from one of Vegas’ many gift shops. It had waited in one of Luke’s many piles of unused packs in his office. But at the beginning of this week, when it had felt right and a little bit sentimental, he had opened the pack. A full circle.

Luke frowns as he pulls the deck out of his pocket. The edges are too frayed for his liking. A deck normally doesn’t last him more than three days, and that’s when it’s a good quality deck. This sad little souvenir deck probably should’ve been replaced Wednesday morning, but now, on Thursday afternoon, Luke is regretting his decision to hold out until tomorrow to open his next deck, the first one he’ll use with the hotel’s insignia.

Luke had forced Harry to make a deal with Bicycle. Luke refused to use any other brand in the casino. It wasn’t only for sentimentality reasons, the brand of Luke’s first deck as well as the maker of 90% of the decks he carried with him. It was all about the quality of the cards and the tradition of the name while adding their own spin from the hotel, that was basically the whole idea behind their project. So Harry had agreed, producing even more money out of some magic hat he had and Luke had set up a meeting with the people at Bicycle. Bicycle. He’d almost cried the night before. He did cry in the elevator.

The design he and the artists had come up with had been simple and modern. The card backs were pale blue, a simple white line border with the white Styles’ S  in the center. The fronts were kept more similar. Luke had nearly quit when Harry said he didn’t want the standard black and red numerals and suits. They had compromised, making the reds a hazy scarlett, the blacks became a smoky grey, and the numbers were all printed in the same font that Harry’s grandfather had copyrighted nearly half a century before. The artists for the deck had used pictures of Harry, Anne, and the late Harry Senior for the Jack, Queen, and King. Harry for the Jack had been for a laugh while Anne as the queen had been out of respect for her and a sign of gratitude from both Harry and Luke. The official story for the King being Styles Senior was as a memorial for the late great businessman, but Luke knew it was really Harry’s idea of a ‘fuck you’ to the man who’d always came down so hard on him and destroyed his childhood. Styles Senior had hated Harry’s casino idea, and now he is a part of it.

So all in all, the deck is beautiful, perfect for the latest addition of the Styles’ hotel chain. And Luke is dying to hold it in his hands tomorrow. Luke breaking the seal of the first deck and shuffling will be how they kick off the night at the casino. But right now, half an hour before he addresses his well trained and professional staff, all he has is a frayed tourist deck that is so destroyed he can’t even shuffle it in one hand.

Luke walks down one of the center aisles to go to the middle of the casino floor, riffle shuffling into a bridge along the way with both hands. He doesn’t try to faro, the deck to wrecked to consider it. Instead he focuses on the casino he has helped make.

The layout of the floor had started with a conversation between Harry and Luke over coffee one day. Harry talking about how he hated how people in Las Vegas always seemed to resent the people who own casinos because of the whole mentality of ‘the house’ in casino gambling.

Luke had given his input as he practiced a trick cut he’d gotten a little rusty at with his left hand. “I just wish we could change how people look at it. Rather than coming to try and win money, they see losing as paying to gamble. Like, the guests see their loss as their fee for a great night.”

Harry had called up his designer before Luke had finished his sentence, saying they had a concept. They had called it ‘gambling and modernity.’ The floor Luke walks on now is covered by a simple black carpet with thousands of the Styles’ S weaved into a pattern. The double floors are set up as a ground floor and a circular balcony overlooking it with a grand staircase on either side of the giant room.

The bottom floor is where the poker, craps, and roulette tables are. All are hand crafted out of dark woods, much more angular than the average poker table. Rather than curving to accommodate the six players and the dealer, the tables are trapezoids with a square cut out for the dealer, the felt on top deep blue rather green. The tables are set up in clusters separated by ten aisles over the massive floor. The signs for each section are handmade, hang on silver stands, and are placed around the tables.

The big thing about the hotel and casino was too put a spin on the classics. Rather than rich reds and gold with loud noises, the Style’s casino is all about elegance with icy blue and other cooler tones, silver everywhere, and specifically modified slot machines that are noiseless. The hundreds of slot machines sit on the second floor, the balcony, and were specially made to be silent and along the same color scheme as the rest of the casino.

A major feature of the floor, where Luke is walking to, is the bar. The bar, with the same coloring of the dark woods and shades of blue, seems to rise from the center of the room, a complete circle around with ten different stations for ten bartenders. The back ‘wall’ of the bar goes up eight feet, all the way around the circle, except for the four doors to access the inner circle of storage. Above the bar is one of Luke’s favorite features of the casino, the enormous hand crafted chandelier that starts fifty feet in the air at the top of the domed ceiling and finishes right at the edge of the inner bar wall. It’s all twisting pieces of glass, colored slightly blue so the hazy glow that settles over the floor feels light and calming.

Luke is looking up at the monstrous feature when he hears the sound of a riffle shuffle that isn’t his skilled, practiced style. The sound of a deck of cards slapping the table is sloppy, slow, and Luke wants to cringe because he can almost tell how many cards were left unshuffled at the end.

Luke turns his head to see a person wearing a dealer’s uniform and sitting behind a dealer’s table shuffling a blue Bicycle deck. The man is tall, like Luke, but that’s where the comparison stops. The man’s hair is almost as dark as the black button-up shirt and trousers all the dealers are told to wear. His tanned complexion contrasts well with the silvery blue bow tie around his neck. The man’s lower lip is hanging loose as he focuses on shuffling, poorly, with his shoulders hunched over.

Luke didn’t hire him. Luke hired everyone on his staff personally, as he wanted the best of the best for this casino, his casino. Kind of. He had each person lead him through several hands of each game he wanted them to know with all the variations he allowed. This man can’t even do a trick shuffle.

Luke walks over to the table, a craps table no less, to figure out what this person is doing in his casino.

“What are you wearing?” Luke asks first. The man looks up, the cards falling out of his weak hold.

“Shit.” He mumbles. Luke sees his eyes are as dark as a spade and the bow of his lips is shaped like the top of a heart but more similarly colored to the Styles’ deck than the normal bright red. He turns his attention back to Luke as he gathers up the cards with untrained hands. “I didn’t get the memo that we weren’t supposed to wear our uniforms. Little embarrassing for first impressions.” The man holds out his right hand over the craps table. “Calum.”

Luke reaches forward to shake his hand. Years playing poker in back rooms has taught Luke not to reveal his hand right away. “Luke. What exactly are you doing?”

“Practicing shuffling.” Calum says as he starts to try another riffle, but Luke knows his hand placement is no good. “I want to get it right for tomorrow.”

Luke gapes a bit as Calum focuses on his hands as he tries to grip the cards in a different way. Luke snaps out of it quick enough, “You do know we shuffle the cards on the table here?”

Calum turns back to Luke, “Huh?”

“You shuffle on the table, the traditional way. You mess them up and put them back together.”

Calum frowns a bit, “Why not this way? It looks cooler.”

Luke sighs inside but is a bit too furious to let it out, “Because it’s systematic. There’s a pattern to riffle shuffling that guests could track. Shuffling on the table is the best way to ensure the cards are really random.”

Calum stops trying to shuffle at that and perks up a bit. “Good, because I’m hopeless at this.” Those poor cards. “Thanks, Luke.”

“What...how...do you know the difference between five card and seven card stud?” It’s the first question Luke can come up with that any dealer in their sleep would know. But Calum just stares blankly for a second before his face melts into a grin.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Sorry. Someone else might know though.”

Luke’s arm are crossed and he’s sliding his cards between his fingers, trying to keep himself in check. “Who hired you?”

Calum looks up at the ceiling, “I think his name was William...no, just Liam.”

Before Calum can finish his sentence, Luke’s bellowing. “Liam!”

Calum looks up at Luke with confusion written across his face, brows furrowed in. There has to be a reason why sensible, loyal, Liam decided to hire this guy. Well, besides Calum’s good looks and winning smile. Liam knows better.

“Yes sir.” Liam appears to Luke’s left. Normally Luke hates it when Liam calls him that but now he kind of likes the sign of authority. Luke’s the one in charge and Liam made a mistake. One that Luke is going to fix.

“Who is this?” Luke points at Calum, using his height over Liam to appear domineering. He tries not to be a mean boss, especially to people like puppy dog Liam. But it’s the day before the opening and one of his dealers is practicing a riffle.

“Calum,” Liam also looks confused, “one of the new dealers you told me to hire.”

“No he’s not. I screened all of them.” Luke had, taken an afternoon to meet the twenty odd dealers he told Liam, his floor manager, to hire for him last minute.

“Calum couldn’t make it to that meeting. You were supposed to meet him on Tuesday but then the chips fiasco happened.”

Oh, Luke does vaguely remember that. He was supposed to meet with one of the new dealers on Tuesday. But then the chips came in with two of the colors having the wrong denomination of money stamped into their fronts. The chips had been custom made, thousands of them, each a small clay disk in a solid color with only the number of dollars it represented stamped on the front. The fuschia ones had come back with a 25 stamped into them and the forest green said 50, so all of the places where chip color and corresponding worth were written had to be found and replaced with the new denominations. It had been a busy afternoon for Luke and he had completely forgotten about meeting the new dealer.

But still, Luke has no idea how this guy made it passed interviews with Liam. “Liam, he doesn’t know what five card stud is.”

Liam turns to Calum, seeming to think back to the interview he must have done. Liam’s face jumps when he seems to remember and he turns back to Luke. “Sir, I’m so sorry, he was the last of the day and he assured me he had experience. I don’t think I even looked at his resume.” Luke doesn’t blame Liam as much then. Liam had started becoming jittery every day a few hours before he had to leave. His wife had given birth six months ago and their beautiful little girl had started babbling and just being downright adorable. Luke had stopped giving him important tasks to do after 3 pm.

“So wait,” Calum interrupts them, “You’re saying I got this job because of a fluke?”

Calum looks sad. Luke can guess his story. Went to Las Vegas with big dreams that were a bit too small for L.A and too out of the box for New York. Maybe left his shitty job as a valet to finally get a job on the floor. You could do far worse in Vegas.

“What experience do you have with dealing?” Liam asks, trying to salvage the situation. Maybe they can find somewhere for him. A roulette table?

“I didn’t say I had experience. I told you I played cards growing up. Poker nights, stuff like that. If it came off differently, I’m sorry but I wouldn’t lie in an interview.” Calum shrugs, like he doesn’t want to get Liam in trouble but he wants to hold onto a job.

“Give me those.” Luke points at the deck in Calum’s hand. Calum really won’t be needing them and Luke hasn’t shuffled new cards in four days. The crisp edges bite Luke’s skin as he starts shuffling with his right hand, a continuous motion that is well practiced by now, a stress reliever. Calum is fixated on watching the motion in Luke’s hand. “How were you going to work tomorrow if you didn’t know anything about gambling?”

Calum holds his head up. “I assumed that’s what the meeting today was about, the rules and stuff.”

Luke shakes his head, “You know what they say about assuming.” Calum’s face shifts into a mixed between concealed shock and even better hidden hurt. He’d have a good poker face. Luke just knows how to read those well. “I apologize, that was rude. Give me a minute.”

Luke turns back to the cards, knowing that Liam and Calum are watching. Luke does a few trick cuts, paying attention to the feel of the cards and not focusing on the sight of them. It’s second nature by now, not actually looking at the cards, it’s almost feels wrong when he does look at them. He does a few false shuffles just to calm down, trying to think of where he needs inexperienced people.

Luke doesn’t need anyone. He knows that. Hayley on the other hand...”Do you have bartending experience?” Luke looks up at Calum, pausing the cards in his hands seamlessly and squaring them off.

Calum tears his eyes away from Luke’s hands. “Yeah, a few different bars in a few different states. I’m pretty good.”

“Hayley?” Luke calls toward the bar. He knows Hayley is in the center of the bar going over inventory once more. That’s where he’d been heading when Calum had distracted him. “You can go back to what you were doing Liam.”

“Thanks sir.” Liam rushes off with the hurried step of someone embarrassed and set to prove they're better than their mistakes. Luke had seen the same walk leaving poker tables all over this city.

“So,” Calum has moved from behind the craps table. “You’re the boss around here.”

Luke shakes his head. “No, but I’m _a_ boss. Everything the light touches is mine.” He points to the chandelier, hoping that he sounded cool sneaking in a Disney movie reference and not douchey for saying something like that. Based on the smile on Calum’s face, Luke’s ok.

Just as Luke is admiring Calum’s jaw line, he is reminded of the fact that he does not in fact run the entire casino. The bar is all Hayley’s.

Hayley is a loud, fun, red head that Ashton had started seeing casually when this whole ‘building the first modern, non gimmicky’ casino and hotel in Vegas thing started. Ashton had brought her to Harry’s one night and her advice about the restaurant areas had been spot on. Apparently, she was one of the cities most sought after restaurant managers. She and Ashton hadn’t worked out but Harry had offered her a job and the four of them had been slowly making something they could be proud of for the past 18 months. And now it’s a reality.  

One of the doors to the storage area slams open. “Did you call me?” Hayley’s hair is pulled back in a tight braid and her make up is impeccable as always. She’s ten years Luke’s senior and Luke wishes he’s as bad ass as she is when he turns forty two.

“You still need staff?” Luke asks, leaning against the bar, Calum hovering behind him a bit.

Hayley grabs three glasses and starts filling them with tap water. For someone who has run the poshest restaurants in Vegas she’s refreshingly down to earth. Luke has joined her and Ashton for too many pizza Fridays before and after they broke up and has seen Hayley in sweats.

“It’s food service, I always need more staff.” She sets the glasses down, one in front of Luke and one in front of the bar stool next to him. The stools are high back, dark brown, and elegant with indigo seats. She takes a sip before addressing Calum. “Come on, sit. Better get comfortable with the bar if you’re going to start working behind it.”

Calum hesitates but sits, taking a sip of his water. “I just want to make sure I’ve got this right? You,” he points at Luke, “are firing me but she is hiring me.”

Hayley shrugs, “Maybe. You have until the meeting in...” She pulls Luke’s arm forward to see his watch, “eighteen minutes to convince me.”

Calum smirks, “I only need ten.”

Hayley laughs, “You only needed the one. You’re hired. Let’s get you some paper work.” She turns to Luke, “We’re good here, you get ready for your speech, yeah?”

Luke nods and heads off to the ballroom where all the various casino staff, including Hayley’s bar staff, are meeting. There are already quite a few people in there. He has about three hundred employees between dealers, janitors, bartenders, repairmen and pit bosses. Liam is making his rounds, talking to the staff and learning their names. Luke finds a small coat closet near by to prepare.

It’s a bit surreal. He’s been working with Harry, Ashton, Hayley, and hundreds of other people to make this project work and now it’s done. They open for check in tomorrow at two in the afternoon, already booked solid, and the casino opens at four.

Luke needs to hit the right note with the staff now. He needs their respect, yet he also wants to be liked. Harry had recently changed a bunch of managerial positions at other hotels because he didn’t like how the managers treated their employees. Luke wants to be a good boss, one employees can come to if they have a problem. But he also demands respect. He is a new name in this industry. The only job he’d had before this was managing a bridge club. It was a high-end bridge club and he did a damn good job, the reason why Anne introduced Luke to Harry after watching Luke manage the floor at Las Vegas’ most exclusive bridge club for years. But that had been small compared to this.

As always, Luke finds solace in a deck of cards. He pulls out the blue Bicycle deck he took from Calum, his brand and style like a smoker has with cigarettes, and faros a few times. He hasn’t been able to since yesterday morning, the tattered edges of his Vegas deck preventing the precision he needs to do the trick. And Luke plans his speech around the deck.

*********

“Hello everybody!” Harry takes the stage at one. Luke is off stage, down one of the two steps that lead up to the small raise in the floor that they’d installed in one side of the room. “Thank you for coming down today.” Harry smiles out at the crowd as he speaks, his head scarf the same silvery blue as the staff ties. “I’m terribly excited that you are all involved with this project that has taken a lot of time, money, sweat and tears. I’m here to introduce someone you all already know. He is the authority on the casino floor and a dear friend. Luke Hemmings.”

There’s polite applause as Luke climbs the stairs and shakes Harry’s hand. Luke had grown up seeing Harry all over the tabloids, the no good heir to a hotel fortune. The pictures never showed the side of him that is gripping Luke’s arm with a smile, trying to put a friend at ease. For all that Luke’s been acting in control, Harry knows just how nervous he is to be in this position.

Luke turns out to face the crowd when Harry drops his hand. Luke recognizes all the faces from various interview. He sees Dan, one of his good friends he met dealing cards at the Bellagio on his days off from the bridge club, more a hobby than an actual job. There’s Sara, a few people back, who used to deal on the world poker tour but took a break to have a baby. Chelsea, a girl just starting out who had impressed Luke with her three card monty skills during her interview.

“There sure are a lot of you.” Luke fidgets a bit with the cards in his hands. “I’m going to teach you a few card tricks that I never want to see done in this casino after today.” There’s murmured laughter and chuckling from a few people in the room. “Who here knows what an ambitious card trick is?”

Almost everyone in the room raises their hands. It is Vegas after all. The closest to the stage with a hand down is Calum, standing at the fringe of the crowd with Hayley who has her hand high in the air. “Calum, will you come up here?” Luke motions and points at the new employee. Calum has an odd look on his face but makes his way to the few steps to climb the stage and stands next to Luke.

Luke has a few variations of his ambitious card trick. For his best version, designed for casual meetings in bars, he needs a shot glass and lime wedge. He has another version that only works with at least one child present. So he settles on the best version for the situation.

“Every ambitious card trick begins similarly.” Luke pulls a Sharpie out of his back pocket as he turns to Calum. “I’m going to ask the mark to write his name on a card.” Luke hands the Sharpie to Calum whose eyebrows furrow. “Calum, you might recognize this deck.” Luke turns his head to the audience. “He was mistreating it earlier so I confiscated it.” Luke fans out the cards for Calum. “Take a card, sign your name and date it on the card face. Then put it back anywhere you like.”

Calum pulls one from the center, signs it while keeping the number and suit hidden from Luke's eyes, then places it back about a third of the way in on the right, trying to be sneaky and making sure it’s flush with the other cards. But he can’t stump Luke.

What Calum doesn’t know about are the sleights that Luke has already begun and continues as he speaks. “Calum thinks I’m not going to be able to impress him. Don't get him wrong, he wants to be impressed. He’s already impressed. But he wants me to blow his mind. He just doesn’t think I will.” Luke draws the attention away from where his hands are false cutting the deck even though it looks like he’s shuffling. He has a whole pattern of steps that will get Calum’s card to it’s final destination. Luke just needs the audiences attention exactly where he wants it.

“But Calum’s wrong. I’m going to impress him. First I’m going to make him think I’m not actually as good as I am. Then I’m going to embarrass him. And he’s going to enjoy it and walk off this stage with a smile on his face.”

Calum’s grinning at him, but not like marks normally grin at him. More like he’s already impressed with Luke, like Luke doesn’t need to do anything to impress Calum. Like the cards don't matter and only Luke's words. No one’s ever really looked at him like that in the middle of a trick before.

“Ok, Calum, turn over the top card.” Luke flourishes the deck, placing it in the middle of his large palm. Calum picks up the top card and flips it over on the deck. “Is that you’re card?”

“No.” Calum just keeps grinning, like Luke is a bunny trying to be ferocious. Calum doesn’t know what Luke has up his sleeve though.

“That’s too bad. I was hoping it would be.” Luke pretends to pout before he starts shuffling again. “Wait, there’s only 51 cards in this deck. I wonder where the missing card is?” Luke feigns confusion before turning to Calum. “Do you have it? Did you try to purposefully mess up my trick?”

“No.” Calum just watches with a curious look.

“You really shouldn’t lie to your boss you know, wouldn’t want to start off wrong.”

“I’m not lying.” Calum’s grin is back full force. Calum’s face mid grin is made of all the different parts of a heart. The apples of his cheeks the full body. The points of his canines the same point of the heart. The crisp lines around his eyes like the stark contrast between the red and the white on card faces.

“Oh yeah? Then what’s that sticking out of your fly?” Luke asks, pointing at where the obvious edge of a card peeks out from Calum’s zipper. Calum’s shocked face is incredible and the room starts laughing in earnest. When Calum pulls the card out, quickly zipping back up, he shows the face to the crowd. The crowd claps in applause at the quick scrawl across the center, Calum’s card.

Luke takes a second too. Huh. It’s the nine of clubs. Interesting. But then he’s back on, poker face in place, because he doesn’t really want to think about the implications of Calum’s card choice.

“Calum just got duped, made fun of, embarrassed. He kind of looked like a fool in the end. But he was happy about it. We want to do that here. We want people to walk in, knowing that they’ll probably lose money, but still want to play. We want them to walk out with a smile on their face because they enjoyed their time with us even if they feel foolish. Because gambling is fun, cards are fun. People should be enjoying themselves even if they’re caught with their fly down.” Luke motions to Calum who looks down at the ground at that, still grinning.

Luke drapes an arm around Calum’s shoulder and leads him to the side of the stage, whispering. “Thanks, sorry about that.”

Calum looks up at Luke’s face. “It’s fine. Cool trick.”

“Thanks.” Luke walks back to center stage as Calum saunters to his spot next to Hayley. Luke sees Hayley slap Calum’s shoulder with a laugh while Calum just shrugs. “That’s not the only thing I wanted to talk about.”

Luke starts separating the black from the red cards in the deck as he speaks. “That’s the mentality I want you to have. Our guests are marks and you have to make their day. But you also have to be good to each other.”

Luke finishes sorting. “The term ‘faro’ is used for a perfect riffle shuffle. Twenty six cards on one side interlaced perfectly with twenty six cards on the other.” Luke holds up his hands, fanning out the black and red cards. He then brings his hands together, shuffling quickly. He fans the cards again for people to see the uniform pattern, the red and black alternating in the cards. He doesn't even need to look to know it was perfect.

“To faro, you need hard work and practice. Each card needs to fall perfectly, a synchronized rhythm. Now,” Luke puts the cards back in his pocket, looking out to the audience, “I want this casino to run that well. Trust each other. Trust me. I’ve faroed quite a few shuffles in my life, I know how to make this casino run smoothly. And I chose you, all of you, for the deck. If you know me, you know that comparison is one of the highest compliments I can give. And I know you’re all worth it.” Luke pauses. Letting it sink into the workers heads. “Thank you.”

There’s loud applause as he exits the stage. He shakes a few hands and smiles at a few more people, Hayley draws him into a hug as she takes the stage. Luke ends up in her spot next to Calum. Luke doesn’t look at him, content to watch Hayley talk to the crowd about the perfect drunk, a drunk they must learn to perfect for their guests. As she starts her anecdote of the time she missed perfect drunk by a long shot, Luke feels a tickle against his right middle finger.

Luke looks down and sees Calum trying to thread his card in between Luke’s fingers. Calum looks up, smirking. “I figured you’d want all fifty two.”

Luke doesn’t react, just a simple nod as he takes the card and puts it in his pocket with it’s friends. He shyly returns Calum’s grin when the eye contact lasts a bit too long.

Later, after the meeting with the employees is over and all the questions are asked, last minute tasks finished, Luke takes the elevator up to his apartment.

Harry had planned into the hotel design a floor for the managers’ apartments. The floor, well really two, is divided into eight apartments. Ashton and Harry have the two corner apartments that face the east, to see the sun rise. Hayley chose the middle apartment on the south side. Luke’s is the middle apartment on the west, he chose it for the excellent views of the sunset. The four other apartments are empty, left for either VIP guests who want a long term stay or more staff members that they might need in the future.

The apartments are beautiful. The only way to reach the floor is by entering a code into a hidden keypad in the elevators. A different pin will put you on a different VIP floor. Their floor’s code is Anne’s birthday.

The apartments are all two floors. The bottom floor opens on to a kitchen, living area facing the window, and dining space. Luke’s is decorated with many generic pieces from the hotel rooms as well as a few of his own purchases from the past years in Vegas. There’s a guest room and bathroom on the bottom floor as well, right under the stairwell going to the second floor.

The second floor is where Luke spends the majority of his time when he makes it up to the apartment. He has a large master bedroom and en suite bathroom as well as a walk in closet. Down the hall is another room with a closet and bathroom, slightly smaller. The others kept this room a guest room, the original purpose for the room. Luke flicks the light on in his office and smiles.

Harry had raised an eyebrow when Luke had told him that he wanted to make the extra bedroom into another office. Harry had offered to make his office off the casino floor larger, for anything he’d want to put upstairs. Luke had shaken his head, this office is not for the casino. It’s for his cards.

The bookcases are full of all the books on cards he’s ever come across, anything from sleights and tricks to volumes of rule books for every card game known to Luke. Along the walls are card artwork, a niche Luke has enjoyed investing in. Luke’s large desk sits overlooking the Vegas strip and the night sky, one of his favorite places to sit.

The distracting bit of the room is the stacks of decks on almost every surface. They’re organized, Luke’s own system dividing them by sentimentality, originality, and quality. Luke goes through decks so quickly that he’s started making sure he’s properly stocked. Some of the piles are old decks that Luke kept for some reason or another. In a special drawer in his bedroom are his most memorable decks, his first deck, the first deck he faro shuffled, the deck Gladdie used to teach him bridge. The piles in the office are more abstract, just decks he couldn’t bear to throw out.

Luke makes his way to his large plush desk chair. He pulls the two decks out of his pocket. The Vegas cards he’ll put in the pile on the right of the filled book shelf. Luke puts those at the corner of his desk next to the picture of him, Harry, and Ashton at Ash’s birthday the year before.

The other deck. It’s just a normal blue Bicycle deck, he has hundreds others like it in this room. But for some reason his eyes stray to the bottom drawer of his desk. Luke taps the deck against the table and studies how the curve of the m in Calum overlaps with one of the clubs on the card.

Luke’s had some version of an ambitious card trick for years. Back home, he’d started keeping the decks he’d practice with, his marks name on the bottom card. It came to the point where Luke had so many he only kept the ones belonging to the people he was closest too.

It turned into a thing for Luke. When he met someone exceptional he did an ambitious card routine and kept the deck. The bottom drawer is full of decks with his closest friends names on them and the date. Hayley’s from the second time they met, drinks at a bar that Ashton was an hour late for. It was before Hayley had even been hired but Luke knew then he’d want to keep the deck. Luke has Ashton’s deck, Harry’s, Gladdie’s, Mikey’s, and about ten other decks lined up carefully, rubber banded together just so.

Luke shuffles the deck one more time before placing Calum’s deck into the drawer.

**Nine of Hearts**

Luke feels like his feet are going to fall off. He’s been on his feet for the last ten hours, constantly needed on the floor from three on. Luckily tomorrow is his day off, otherwise known as the day he only spends six hours in the casino rather than the entire day.

Liam hates it. And not because he craves the power of being in charge when Luke isn’t there. Liam just thinks Luke needs more time to have ‘hobbies.’ Luke hasn’t had a hobby since he started learning card tricks. Cards are his hobby. Therefore, on his days off, Luke is going to be in the closest casino watching the play like a kid in a candy store.

Luke looks down at his rolex, a birthday present from Harry. It’s just past one in the morning and Luke is definitely going to be taking advantage of the opportunity to sleep in the next morning. The mirrored walls of the elevator stare back at him, catching the sharp edges of his charcoal grey suit and powder blue shirt. Luke makes sure his wardrobe is always in line. His hair is still quiffed high above his forehead even when he feels like he won’t be able to move out of the elevator.

The doors slide open and he walks to his apartment. Luke has no idea how Ashton does it. Or even Hayley for that matter. Hayley will still be up for drinks after twelve hours on the clock. Ashton though, Ashton is constantly working. Luke hasn’t actually seen Ashton in his own apartment since they had drinks after the hotel’s first full week and that was over two months ago. Luke knows that a majority of Ashton’s wardrobe has moved it’s way into a small room on the bottom floor of the hotel, right near his office. And apparently Ashton likes it that way.

Luke pulls his key card out of his inside jacket pocket. It’s one of only two things that Luke ever has on him when he’s in the hotel. He doesn’t need a wallet, Hayley’s staff know just to serve him when he rushes in for a quick bite at one of the four dining options the hotel has to offer. He has his watch to tell time and doesn’t like his phone on him at work anyways, anyone who needs to reach him is within shouting distance or can use the hotel phone network. Luke only carries around his key card and whatever deck he’s using at the moment.

Right now, he’s using a deck Calum bought him the night before. Luke and Calum had been eating dinner together on their breaks and Luke must’ve seemed off. It mostly had to do with the rampant card counting in the casino, he’d had to kick out four people that night so far, but Calum must have noticed Luke’s deck with it’s frayed edges and put the blame there. Calum had run off to the bathroom and brought back a deck from one of the souvenir shops in the lobby. Luke had ripped the tape at the top and felt instantly calmer.

Luke smiles at the thought, Calum’s grin when Luke had shuffled, and opens his apartment door to hear the TV on. Calum must’ve come up after his shift ended a few hours back. He’s probably asleep on the sofa, one of Luke’s soft throws over his shoulder with some sports channel on.

Luke drops his key card into the key bowl Hayley had got him as a joke gift that he actually started using. He takes off his jacket, sets it on the small table next to his door, and slips off his shoes before heading further into the apartment.

The view is beautiful. The strip is lit up, different neons stretch out before him from his floor to ceiling windows. He can make out a few of the larger buildings, the well known hotels that they try not to view as competition, but it’s really more just a sea of color outlined by the black desert behind it. At this height, Luke can’t hear the cars so the only sound is the soft mumblings of the commentators talking about a college basketball game. Luke’s not particularly interested.

“Hey.” Luke is pulled away from the windows by Calum’s quiet voice, twinged in sleep. Calum’s hair is mussed, leaning back against the couch cushions. He’s seated upright, a surprise, in an old shirt of Luke’s. A throw is wrapped around his legs but Luke is pretty sure Calum’s just in a pair of boxers sitting on the couch.

Luke doesn’t know when Calum became more comfortable in the apartment than Luke is. Luke knows when they became friends, when they added benefits, and when it started to feel different. But he doesn’t remember exactly when it felt odd to come home and not find Calum somewhere in his apartment. The first few times Calum had come up by himself, after Luke had given Calum a key card and told him the elevator code, Calum had said he felt odd being in the apartment without Luke, like he didn’t belong. Luke had fought him on it, giving Calum reasons to stay. It makes sense for Calum to stay here some nights. Calum lives a good hour away during rush hour and doesn’t get out of work until late or has to work early. And it’s not like Luke minds sharing a bed with Calum. His king bed is far too big anyways. So now, most nights, Luke comes home to Calum asleep on the couch and they both walk up to Luke’s room together. And he’s gotten quite used to it.

“Did I wake you?” Luke asks as he moves to the couch. He lies down, using Calum’s thighs as a pillow. Luke presses his face into the fuzzy blanket he’d picked up on a whim from a shop downstairs. On days he and Calum have a few hours in the morning together, they curl up under it while they eat breakfast.

Calum’s hand comes up to play with the hairs at the top of Luke’s spine, right at the opening of his shirt collar. “No. I was trying to stay awake for when you got home.” Calum had started referring to the apartment as ‘home’ about a week before and Luke doesn’t really know what to do. Luke doesn’t even think of it as home, home to him is the casino floor or his office upstairs. But when he’s alone in the apartment, it never feels like home. He needs someone here with him to even think of calling it that.

“Sorry.” Luke speaks into the fluff, his body relaxed into the plush of the couch and the muscle in Calum’s leg. The blanket tickles his mouth as he speaks while Calum’s fingernails trace patterns into the back of his neck. “I should’ve gotten out a few hours ago.”

“It’s fine. What kept you this time?” Calum’s hand moves up into Luke’s hair and starts playing with the gelled pieces at the front. Luke burrows further into Calum’s lap, so his forehead is touching Calum’s stomach.

“More counters.”

Calum sighs. “I’m sure they’ll stop soon.”

Luke rubs his nose into his old tee draped over Calum’s body. “I hope.”

A week before, Harry had been interviewed about the seeming success of his new hotel. He’d been asked about his security measures, how he kept card counters out of his games and made sure no crews tried to scam them. Harry had smiled and said he didn’t have anything in place beside the “best staff I could find”

What he’d been referring to is Luke’s skill at reading people and the tricks he’d taught the staff to identify anyone trying to rig card games or influence play. So far they’d been successful. Luke walks the floor for hours a day, finding anyone suspicious and confirming they are indeed going against house policies before having his security escort them out.

The problem was that Harry’s announcement had alerted everyone to the fact the casino has very basic camera security and none of the computer programs installed to monitor the guests. Luke thinks computers are tacky, they give people an excuse not to do their job. But everyone knowing about the absence of security measures had put a beacon over the casino, calling all to come and try to fool Luke.

Calum’s hand stills on Luke’s head, just the thumb rubbing circles behind Luke’s ear. “They will. Once they realize you’re actually good at your job, they’ll stop.”

Luke smiles, the tension of his day draining with every circle of Calum’s thumb. He realizes he hasn’t asked about Calum’s day yet. “Thanks. How was Anne’s?”

Calum chuckles, “Hayley promises to never schedule me there again.”

“That bad?”

Calum sighs before speaking, trying to figure out what to say. It’s a problem they’ve had. Luke’s one of the three managers of the hotel and Calum’s just an employee. There are some things Luke can’t talk about to a staff member and some things Calum can’t say to his boss. But they’ve been figuring it out.

“It was fine. I’m just not a waiter. I’m better at the bar.” Calum shrugs. If Luke’s honest with himself, he prefers Calum at the bar too. Then they can make faces at each other across the floor.

Luke pushes up onto his forearms so he can swing Calum’s legs up onto the couch and settle in between them. Calum moves easily, sliding down the couch so Luke can tuck his head under Calum’s chin. Luke listens to the quiet heart beat pumping through the warmth of Calum’s chest while Calum’s hands find Luke’s back to hold him closer. Luke finally feels completely relaxed. He lets out a soft hum before speaking. “I’ll ask Hayley to start scheduling you in my kitchen.”

Luke feels Calum’s chin move into what can only be a smirk, “I don’t think Harry would like paying me to heat up leftovers from downstairs.”

“Fine, I’ll pay you.” Luke mutters into Calum’s chest, right on the edge of sleep. But Calum laughs and the bumping jostles Luke awake.

“What? You want to be my sugar daddy?”

Luke pushes his upper body to look at Calum’s face. “Do you want me to be?” He doesn’t mean it seriously, tries to make the sarcasm come through in his drowsy state. But it seems to startle Calum, his eyes widening and his lips pursing together.

“Not really.” Is all Calum says, ending the joke. So Luke just snuggles back down onto Calum’s chest.

They just lie there for a bit. Luke reaches out his long arm to grab the remote to turn off the TV, tucking his hand under Calum’s shoulder after. Calum’s fingers find their way back into Luke’s hair and Luke hums into Calum’s chest in gratitude. Luke feels so comfortable with Calum and it just doesn’t make sense how any of it happened. Luke’s life doesn’t really work like that, he’s worked for everything he has, starting at seven years old and learning the discipline it took to master cards and the games one could play with them. But with Calum, everything just fell into place like they were two sides of a riffle shuffle, perfectly intertwined.

Sometimes it doesn’t just feel like friendship with benefits. Luke’s had good friends, has good friends, and none of them have fit quite like this. People always start out impressed with him, seeing his skills as the person he is. But a few stick around, liking the man behind the deck just as much as the tricks he does.

From the very beginning, it seemed Calum was more impressed with him than the cards. And if anything, over the last few months, Calum has learned to become a part of the tricks, his eyes on Luke just as crucial as the top cut.

Luke thinks he might be starting to fall for Calum. And he thinks Calum might just catch him.

“Luke?” Calum says, adding just the slightest pressure to Luke’s scalp.

“Mrph.” Luke makes a small noise to acknowledge he’s awake but wishes he wasn’t.

“We should head upstairs. I’m not trying to carry you again.” Luke smiles into Calum’s chest. The week before Calum had tried to carry Luke up the stairs. Luke had woken up, shocked, and screamed. Calum had since then sworn off transporting Luke while he was asleep.

“Ok.” Luke slowly stands from the couch, pulling up Calum after him. Luke leans on Calum’s back as they take the stairs up to Luke’s bedroom. The doors already open and moonlight is spilling in from the sky while the neons of the strip just touch the bottom of the windows. Calum helps Luke pull off his clothes and toss them neatly over the victorian winged chair in the corner of the room. Luke’s sheets are pale green with a dark patterned duvet. Luke walks to get in on the left side of the bed. Because it’s somehow become his side.

Calum and Luke both turn to the center once they’ve rolled into bed. With the faint glow from outside falling on Calum’s features, Luke can see Calum’s soft sleepy smile and drooped eyes. Luke leans forward, just a hair, at the same time as Calum to push their mouths together in a subdued, pre sleep kiss. It’s nothing fancy, just a routine they’ve worked their way into, a good night kiss.

Luke watches Calum fall asleep, only a moment between his eyes open and shut. And somehow the thought comes to Luke’s mind that they haven’t had sex in a few nights. They’ve both been working so hard and this thing with the counters has left them exhausted, falling into bed at night without either mentioning sex.

Not for the first time since they agreed on the friends with benefits title, Luke wonders if it’s the right one.

*****

At quarter to five the next night, Luke walks into his casino. He opted for his tight jeans and a black button up done up to the top. He wants to blend in, watch without being noticed. When he’s working, he has to be noticed in his expensive clothes and bright smiles at the guests. But his days off are for his entertainment only.

Calum’s at station three tonight, pouring a few fingers of scotch for a high roller Luke had spoken with the night before. The man had shaken Luke’s hand and complimented how he ran the casino and the design. Luke decides to avoid him, opting instead to survey the card tables.

While Luke worked at The Vegas Bridge Club, he’d spent his days off as a dealer. Some people told him he was crazy, but there really is nothing he likes more than being in control of the cards. Back then, if his pit boss or, god forbid, the floor manager had come around, a shock would shift through his system and he amped up the professionalism. No one wanted to be caught smiling when a boss came round.

Here, he knows the dealers well, many of them he stole from his old job at the Bellagio. When he walks past, they glance up and give him a grin or a nod. The guests don’t seem to notice as Luke skirts the tables and watches the play.

It’s become a running joke among the staff, whether Luke will come down on his day off or not. It started after Luke’ first two days off, he’d spent them filling in for dealers who called in sick. Someone had bet someone else that Luke would be in on his next day off too. After the fourth time that someone had lost money, there’d been no one to bet against.

Even now, Luke wants to jump behind a Texas Hold’em table. Those are always the busiest tables, the game new players are most familiar with. Whenever Luke deals Hold’em he tries to figure out the faces and ticks of the players, knowing easily who’s bluffing and who’s not by the end of a night.

Luke looks down at his watch as he stalls at a craps table. He’s never been fond of craps or roulette, all luck rather than the skill, like cards. But it does give him an inconspicuous spot to watch Calum. Calum would never think to look by the loud, cluttered aisles near the chance tables.

Luke’s been wandering around for close to two hours. Calum has a few more hours before his shifts done. The plan had always been to go back up with Calum, so Luke decides to see what Calum’s doing rather than getting too absorbed in the games again.

Calum’s talking with two guests, young women probably here for a bachelorette party or something. In for a few days and flirting with the cute bartender because that’s what you do in Vegas. Luke can see Calum leaning over the bar to show off his broad shoulders, a trick he told Luke he likes to do for tips. Calum’s holding a bottle of tequila and the tattoo on his forearm stretches over the muscle underneath.

Luke wants to laugh. This is the third or fourth time Luke has seen Calum flirt and every time it looks a bit ridiculous. Sweet, cuddly Calum smirking and flexing muscles to get tips. And normally, Luke would be jealous. Luke tends to be jealous about the slightest thing. When Gladdie had went to visit one of her old partners, Luke had sulked and hadn’t played well for a week. She had to smack him upside the head to knock sense into him before they lost their standing.

With Calum, it’s just funny. Calum won’t go home with them. Luke knows exactly where Calum will be spending the night. And Luke takes some comfort in that. That trust that Calum won’t sleep with anyone else even though they haven’t talked about being exclusive. It’s part of the reason why Luke thinks he’s ready to have the relationship conversation with Calum.

Luke walks away from the table and stops creepily watching Calum. Instead, he pulls out an empty chair at a mostly empty stud table that Dan is dealing. Dan winks at Luke and Luke relaxes in to watch two guests while he practices some false shuffles.

Half an hour later, Luke is tapped on the shoulder by someone who could only be Liam. “Excuse me sir, you can’t- oh. Sorry Luke.” Liam blushes a bit when he realizes he’s speaking to his boss. Luke just smiles.

“It’s fine Liam. I really shouldn’t have them when I’m just a guest.” They have a pretty serious rule about other decks entering the casino. They aren’t allowed. Luke just happens to be the exception.

“You probably didn’t even realize you had them out.” Liam assures him, the ever dutiful and perfect first mate to Luke as captain. A little odd, since Liam is five years Luke’s senior.

Luke notices a bit of a frantic look in Liam’s eyes. It’s probably just the baby. Camille has started standing on her own. “Is everything ok Li?”

Liam lets out a sigh, his shoulders sagging with the breath. “One crew and three counters. I’m afraid I missed a few, I’m not as good as you, but at least I got some of them out.” Liam looks disappointed in himself. That just won’t do.

“I’m sure you got them all, you’re better at it than you think.” Liam still didn’t look assured. “I’m going to be here for at least another hour, I’ll go watch the blackjack tables to make sure.”

Liam smiles, straightening up a bit. “That would be great. Thank you, I know it’s your day off-”

Luke stands, cutting Liam off. “I forgot to tell you that my new hobby is spotting card counters, so this is really just doing my hobby.” Luke pats Liam’s shoulder, “Good luck the rest of the night.”

Liam nods, “Thanks, I’ll try and stop by that sector before you go. If not, I’ll see you on Friday.” Liam waves as he walks away. Luke walks to the blackjack tables two sections over. It’s only Monday, and he has Tuesdays off as well. Then Liam gets Wednesday and Thursday off before Friday when the weekend crowd comes in, all hell breaks loose, and Liam and Luke are needed constantly. But Luke has four days before he has to worry about that.  

Luke doesn’t see anyone else he suspects of card counting during his hour there. Luke has always had a love hate relationship with blackjack. He loves it because it is all about the cards. It almost isn’t so much him against the house, but him against the cards. Would they be nice and lay an ace on a ten for him? Or would he bust? The dealer had no control over the order, he just played them down. And it’s not like the other players had much effect, they were just kind of hanging out. So black jack is just a human versus cards face off. Luke loves that.

But Luke hates how blackjack doesn’t take much skill. Most people just bet with their instincts, but cards aren’t like that. They’re a pattern, even when shuffled. Luke’s known how to count cards, the only way to have real strategy in blackjack, for ages. It’s why he’s so good at catching counters. But if you try and play fair, there’s really no point besides the money. And Luke hates that, it demeans the cards.

Luke heads towards the high stakes area, secluded in the back with plants and tall light features obscuring the players from view. He rarely goes in there, only to schmooze a rich guest really. People take their cards seriously in the back. Really it is the one place he wants to be but they can handle themselves unlike the rest of the casino.

He’s walking through the Hold’em tables when someone grabs him from behind. Strong arms pull him back against a hard chest with a an ‘oof.’

“Guess who?” Calum whispers in Luke’s ear. Calum smells strongly of alcohol and his hands feel warm against Luke’s waist. Luke relaxes back against him.

“Liam? I told you not to flirt with me during work.” Luke smiles back at Calum who just pinches his sides before Luke turns around. Before Luke can turn fully around, they here a coughing sound next to them. They both turn to look at the noise, Calum’s hands still around Luke’s waist and Luke’s hands settling around Calum’s shoulders.

It’s a woman at a Hold’em table. She has the air of someone who came to reinvent herself for the week. They’re common in Vegas, people who escape their lives and take on a new persona in town. The dress she’s wearing doesn’t fit properly and her make up is a bit askew yet all of it is expensive. Luke can pick a liar if he sees one.

“Excuse me,” she says looking at Calum, “Could you get me a gin and tonic?” It’s obvious she’s had quite a few already but that doesn’t excuse the disdain in her voice.

Calum’s still wearing his bartending clothes so it was an easy mistake to make. Calum smiles his best customer service smile before he speaks, “Sorry Ma’am. I’m off the clock right now. But a server will be around in a bit or the bartenders are always available to help you.” He points over at the bar, rather close.

The woman frowns, “But you’re wearing your uniform.”

Luke can tell Calum is trying to be as kind as possible. “Yes, I just got off. I haven’t had time to change yet.”

The woman doesn’t look impressed. She speaks in a sarcastic tone, “Well then, it won’t be too much trouble for you to get me one drink.”

A frown is starting to form on Luke’s face. He doesn’t like how this woman is talking to Calum. Luke wonders if Calum has to deal with guests like this a lot.

Luke decides to step in, “I’m so sorry ma’am. I’ll call over a server right away.”

Luke is about to wave Stephanie over when the woman goes from annoyed to angry in a flash, “Excuse me? Who involved you? This is between me and your little boyfriend thinking he’s too good to get me a drink.”

And maybe Luke underestimated the amount the woman had to drink. He’s a bit speechless. He’s had guests be rude to him before, but polite rude, like upset about their time, but are not going to treat him like dirt kinds of things. This is downright terrible.

The woman’s arms are crossed over her thin chest. “Now, get me a drink, please.” She adds with a sneer at Calum.

Calum is about to speak but Luke chimes in. “Actually ma’am, it’s illegal for him to do his work duties off the clock. But one of the other servers would be happy to help you.” It's kind of true. Luke's pretty sure that's true.

The woman glares at them both before she starts yelling. “This is ridiculous. Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? I want to see a manager!” She points at Calum, “Do not expect to leave here with a job, and you,” she points at Luke, “need to learn how to keep your nose out of other people’s business.

Luke can see Liam looking over from across the floor with a confused expression on his face. Luke holds his hand up to Liam, telling him to leave it alone a moment. “Ma’am, I am the manager of this casino. If you would like to file a complaint about me you can do so with the hotel manager or write a letter to Mr.Styles. He’s not here to deal with the situation personally, but he values all guest opinions.” Ok, so maybe Luke likes to be a little snarky.

The woman stands with her hands on her hips. “Do not mock me! This is ridiculous, where is the manager?” She calls out over her shoulder, looking back at the dealer, a girl Luke hired. The girl points at Luke and the woman would’ve screamed if Liam hadn’t shown up at that moment.

“Can I be of assistance?” Liam says to Luke, looking straight at him. But somehow the woman thinks he’s addressing her.

“Yes, this boy is mocking me and this one thinks he’s too good to serve customers! I’m appalled at the staff this hotel employs!”

Oh, of course. Luke is an idiot. She’s trying to get free stuff! Complain enough and you get the hotel room free. Well, that wasn’t going to happen now. Good try though.

Liam’s eyebrows are furrowed, and because he is a good floor manager, he looks to Luke, “Sir?”

Luke turns back to the woman. “Ma’am, I can assure you, I am the casino manager. Would you like to talk somewhere more privately, my office perhaps?”

Luke watches the moment when she gets it. Her eyes go from hard to shocked in a breath. Luke handles the rest of the interaction with just enough professionalism before having Liam take over. Calum chuckles into Luke’s shoulder as they leave the casino and Luke can’t help but grin back.

It’s not until they’re in the elevator, both leaning back against the mirrored walls and the light trill of elevator music filling the space, that Luke really thinks about it.

“So,” Luke starts, “She called you my boyfriend.”

Luke turns to Calum, trying to keep it light. He doesn’t want Calum to freak out. Luke turns his neck to watch Calum’s reaction. Calum just looks slightly puzzled but happy.

“Yeah?”

Luke shrugs, “Just funny.”

Calum’s expression deepens, getting both more confused and gleeful at the same time. “What about it?”

Luke shrugs again, “She thought we were together.”

Luke isn’t looking when Calum says, “Why is that funny?”

“Since.....like, we’re not.” Luke shrugs one more time.

“We’re not?” Luke looks up at Calum when he hears the hesitant shock in his voice. Calum’s smile has evaporated and left behind the confusion, brows furrowed and lips pouted.

Luke doesn’t know what to say for a second, “Are we?”

“Luke, I practically live in your apartment. You gave me a key. That’s together.”

Now Luke is confused, “Oh...I thought...” He doesn’t know what he thought exactly, because it does make sense. And yes, maybe he would’ve liked some notice of it but it’s not like he didn’t want to be in a relationship with Calum.

“Did...do you not want to be with me? Because of work?” Calum speaks right as the doors open on their floor. The ping of the doors opening startles Luke out of his daze. Calum shuffles out quickly and Luke still hasn’t answered his question.

“Wait.” Luke says as Calum walks down the hall. “I don’t care about work.” Calum looks over his shoulder at that, turning his body just to question Luke’s statement because everyone knows Luke cares about work, “I mean, I don’t care that I’m your boss. I’m just trying to wrap my head around the fact that we’ve been together this whole time.”

Calum turns at that, right outside Luke’s door, arms outstretched and voice calm, laced with confusion. “What did you think we were doing?”

“I don’t know, friends with benefits? We just never talked about it.” Luke’s voice grows softer as he steps closer to Calum, his hand coming up to rest on Calum’s neck, thumbing at his jawline.

Calum grins shyly while speaking slowly, “You’re always so busy. No time to talk. But it’s pretty obvious we’re together.”

Luke deflates at that. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok.” Calum wraps an arm around Luke’s waist to draw him in. His eyes are so rich and deep and Luke wants to be closer. “You do want to be together? Right?”

Luke decides a kiss will answer that best. He pulls Calum’s face toward him the slightest bit and plants one on him. Calum’s ready to reciprocate when their lips push together. It’s short, nothing passionate. Domestic almost. A kiss that would never happen between two people who weren’t in it for something more than the sex.

Luke jabs the key card into their apartment door, pulling his boyfriend behind him.  

**Six of Spades**

“You’re late.” Gladdie says as Luke walks into the small lobby of the only bridge club within 20 miles of his school.

“I know. Sorry. My professor wanted to talk to me after class.”

Gladdie raises her small wrinkled eyebrow over a deep green eye, untouched by age. “Good or bad news?”

Luke sighs. “She asked me to keep my cards away in class.” As he speaks, he reflexively reaches to touch the cards in the tight pocket of his jean. Just the edge peeks out and he runs his nail along the side to hear the faint noise of laminated surfaces slapping together.

Gladdie nods her head. “As you should. Now come on, an old friend is playing with us today.”

Luke looks around the small lobby, not seeing anyone in the floral couches. There’s no purses lying on the coffee tables. “Are they already inside?”

Gladdie rolls her eyes as she pulls her small stature up right and takes her cane in hand. Luke knows she doesn’t really need the cane, hangs it up right inside her door frame at home. But Gladdie had also taught Luke a lot about appearances and showing people what they want to see.

“She wanted to catch up with the old group.” Gladdie trots forward to the single door that separates the playing area from the lobby and steps through the threshold.

It’s a small bridge club, almost shocking that they have one in the small northern California town. It’s about a five minute walk from Gladdie’s house and a half hour drive from Luke’s dorm room. They’ve been bridge partners for 5 years now, since Luke was 16 and Gladdie finally trusted him enough to play. Five years later, they’re at the top standing in the small league going at the club. They play every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon before they go to dinner at Rico’s, the little Italian place right next door. Luke buys on Tuesdays and Gladdie buys Thursdays.

Luke follows behind Gladdie into the small playing room. There are twenty circular tables with four chairs each staggered around the room, but there are hardly ever more than five being used at once. They only use more when there’s a tournament.  Now, three of the tables are filled with regulars, the pairings changing slightly every time and new players entering the mix as well. In the far corner, Gladdie’s favorite table, A woman with a crisp bob and a bright smile is chatting with a serious moustachioed man, both in their late fifties. Gladdie heads toward the table.

“Connie. Robert. Good to see you.” Before Gladdie can sit in her chair, Connie is up out of her seat and hugging around Gladdie’s shoulders.

“Gladys Mckee! What a sight for sore eyes you are!”

Gladdie nods her head. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” And there’s definitely Gladdie’s same stubborn lilt in her voice, but there’s something strangely fond and soft in there too. Luke’s a bit taken aback. Gladdie hardly ever talks to anyone like that, except for sometimes Sarah.

“Yes, I think the last time we were in town, Tyler couldn’t have graduated High School yet. And now he’s found himself a job, living on his own and everything. Hardly ever sees his poor mother anymore.”

“That’s good. Now, I’d love to catch up,” Gladdie says, smile in her eyes, “But that’s what dinner’s for. First, we play.”

Luke feels awkward behind her. He hasn’t been introduced. While the two women had been speaking, Robert had nodded at him with a calm expression on his face. But now, as Gladdie sits, Connie finally turns her attention to Luke.  

“Oh, so you must be the new partner! A bit young, isn’t he Gladys?” Connie stands with her hands on her hips, appraising Luke as if this was an antique show. Luke just holds out his hand.

“Luke. Nice to meet you.”

Gladdie pipes up, “He’s just as good as you were at your prime dear, can only get better.”

Connie smirks. “Oh Gladys, you haven’t played with my prime yet.” The smirk breaks into a grin. “This will be fun, I’ve never played one of my old partners before.”

That’s when it clicks with Luke. In the back of his head, he’s known Gladdie had other partners before him.  He wasn’t even born yet when she had been ranked nationally. But he’s never met any of the other partners, the majority of them only living in the stories Gladdie tells of the long games and deep laughter. But now, Luke is face to face with one of Gladdie’s old partners. And a pang of jealousy over takes him.

“Old partners?” he mutters as he sits. Gladdie’s already shuffling the deck, Connie watching her fingers carefully just as Luke does when they play pitch against each other.

“Connie’s the partner I had before you, Luke. She moved away about...a year or so before you and I met. Left me in a tricky spot too.” Gladdie says it with warmth in her voice though.

Connie crosses her arms and leans forward. “Well, I had too. How often does opportunity come and sit in your lap?”

Gladdie grins, her teeth peeking through between her lips. “You’d be surprised.

Connie just rolls her eyes but laughs. “Are you going to deal or not, dear?”

The game goes quickly. Luke is determined to prove he’s a good match for Gladdie and focuses more than he normally does on the play rather than the experience. In the end, it’s a simple match. It’s obvious that Robert is not a player, just Connie’s husband sitting in for her normal partner. Robert knows how to play but doesn’t have any of the rhythm of a real bridge player. He never takes a bid, opting to pass more often than not, so it’s easy for Luke and Gladdie to drive up the bid and stick it with Connie so she can’t make it. Even still, Luke can tell Connie is a good player with her skill in playing the dummy hand out.

“Well, that was fun. He’s good.” Connie flicks her head in Luke’s direction with a an impressed grin. Luke’s pulling in the cards, quickly pushing them into a neat stack. They belong to the bridge club, a little too worn for Luke’s liking. If he was looking to cheat, he’d easily have been able to tell which card was which by the creases along the faces and the different fraying sides. But he’d zoned into the suits rather than the cards during the game.

The compliment doesn’t mean much to Luke, knowing it’s more towards Gladdie than himself. Connie has a mask over her features, hiding something. And if Luke’s reading the situation right, Gladdie’s hiding something too.

“Shall we?” Robert asks, standing and holding his arm out to his wife. Robert reminds Luke of the King of Diamonds, a figurehead more than anything else, ornamented and believed to be the power. But Connie’s the real powerhouse of their relationship. She pulls her husband out from the table and drags him towards the exit.

“Come on! Our reservation was for five minutes ago!”

Luke is unimpressed. Gladdie doesn’t hurry. She never has and Luke doubts she ever will. The only time Gladdie rushes is when she wants to take down an opponent as painlessly as possible, not wanting to drag it out for them. Gladdie stands, a picture of regality. The Queen of Spades. She’s always been the Queen of Spades to him. Luke has played enough hearts to understand how dangerous the queen of spades can be if you don’t play your hand right.

“A reservation? At Rico’s? Can you even do that?” Luke asks, trying to make Gladdie smile.

She snorts a bit. “Apparently. We don’t get one because they know we’re always coming.” She smiles at Luke and Luke feels like he’ll get through this round unscathed.

When Gladdie and Luke walk in the small restaurant, they see Robert and Connie in the back in a booth. Gladdie and Luke avoid the back, preferring to sit near the windows so they can watch the people outside as they deconstruct the hands that were just played and discuss better ways to bid. But today they make their way through the winding oak tables and chattering guests to the cracked red booth in the back. Luke slides in first, eyes drawn to the sunshine yellow walls in the dark restaurant. Gladdie slides in next to him.

“I haven’t eaten here in years. Is it still good?” Connie leans forward with her elbow on the table, twisting her short hair between the pads of her fingers.

“It’s got to be. Jon’s still the owner.” Robert says, mouth barely moving under his moustache.

“We’ll see.” Connie mumbles, eyes trailing over the menu.

Luke and Gladdie don’t even pick up their menus, having eaten at Rico’s, apparently owned by Jon, more than enough times to know the menu inside and out. When the waiter comes around, Luke orders pasta and red sauce while Gladdie goes for a broiled fish. Luke tunes out when Connie and Robert order.

“So,” Connie prompts after the waitress trots off, “How’d you two meet?”

Gladdie turns to Luke and grins, “Well, you going to tell them?”

Luke smiles too, like he’s talking about a school crush. But really, meeting Gladdie had been like a first love where the dates all involved learning bridge.

“Just kind of happened. I showed Gladdie one of my tricks one day and she made me play bridge for hours after.”

“He was terrible at first. Could open strong but never had a good end game. It took years to finally get him club ready.” Three to be exact.

“Oh that’s nice.” Connie says, a smirk hiding in her face. “Have you tried to set him up with Sarah? They’d make a lovely couple.”

Luke tenses. Sarah is Gladdie’s gorgeous granddaughter, only two years younger than Luke. Gladdie appears unaffected by Connie. Luke knows better. “I did, but she’s not his type.”

“Oh, don’t like blondes Luke?” Connie smiles and addresses Luke for really the first time since sitting at the table.

“Vaginas. He doesn’t like vaginas.” Gladdie says casually as she takes a sip of her water. Robert’s eyes widen and Connie freezes with her mouth dropping into an o shape. Luke doesn’t know whether to crack up and fall over in his seat or bury his head in the crumbling plush of the cushion.

Gladdie continues, “I’d love to set him up with Mikey, but they refuse. Swear they’re just friends. A pity.”

Robert takes that moment to change the topic, “Are you interested in basketball Luke?”

Luke is not interested in basketball and tells Robert as such. “Not really?”

“So what do you do Luke? Besides play bridge with our dear Gladys?” Connie asks over the brim of her wine glass.   

“Just cards in general.” Luke mumbles.

That piques Connie’s interest, “What do you mean by that?”

Luke shrugs. “I just like cards.” As he speaks he pulls out his deck, a red Bicycle large print set, and starts shuffling. “I play bridge on Tuesdays and Thursdays and work at the club on friday and saturday nights when they do tournaments. I work as a magician at corporate events, sleight of hand stuff. I play poker. Just a lot of practice.” As he speaks, he shuffles one handed, the push and pull of his fingers easily maneuvering the cards.

Connie’s eyes don’t ever look at the cards, but a grin splits on her face. “And what do you study?”

Luke stops the cards, stilling the motion with his hand and hiding the deck beneath the table. “Business. I don’t really have a plan with it though. I graduate in a few months and I’m probably just going to try and get a job at the casino, dealing.” The casino is about an hour outside of Luke’s town. He can’t really think of anything else he’d like to do right now. He’d probably love it really.

Connie turns to Gladdie, “You’re still sneaky Gladys. I’ll give you that.”

Luke’s eyebrows furrow. “What?”

Connie turns back to him. “The reason I left this town was because I was offered a job in Vegas. For the last decade I’ve been the floor manager at The Vegas Bridge Club.” Luke’s heard of that bridge club and only the hours of poker over the years help keep his face calm as he mentally freaks over just how huge Connie is in the bridge world. “Recently, I became the owner.” Luke feels his eyes widen at that. “So I’m looking for a new floor manager.”

Connie takes a sip of her wine. “Gladys did me a favor years ago, so I owe her. And it looks like she’s come to collect. What do you say Luke? Want to manage my bridge club?”

It’s a good thing Luke’s sat against the wall or else he might’ve fallen out of his seat. _Yes, of course the answer is yes_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter! I'm aiming to have each chapter done by at least the first of every month so expect the next one before September 1st. I'm getting into it so hopefully a lot earlier than that. I'll also be posting each chapter update on tumblr. 
> 
> Honestly, if any of the card lingo or casino stuff is confusing, let me know. I'm a bit into cards and I sometimes forget other people aren't so I don't know what other people know. Even if it's as simple as what the different suits are all about and rankings, just let me know. I'd love to add explanations. 
> 
> On tumblr at emily.bazy.tumblr.com, have a nice week!


	3. Diamonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Calum celebrate Calum's birthday, Luke meets Harry Styles, and it's Luke and Calum's two year, two month and three day anniversary. 
> 
> Jack of Club takes place when Luke is 32 (January 2029), Eight of Diamonds is Luke at 30(December 2026), and Jack of Diamonds is Luke at 34(August 2030).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So monthly updates it is!
> 
> I'm going to start putting the month and year for the different parts. For the 1st chapter: Nine of Clubs is June 2028, 31. Nine of Hearts is august 2028, 32. Six of spades is March 2018, 21.
> 
> This is unedited by anyone but myself. My sister was too busy so I just did it myself. Of course, that means that there will probably be heaps of spelling/grammar mistakes. I've read through it an insane amount of times which is probably worse for catching mistakes, so, sorry in advance!
> 
> I'm super nervous to post this. It's just a lot of words and I'm afraid it won't be good. If it isn't good, I'm sorry for wasting your time. But let's hope it's good! It might be? Who knows. But I hope it's at least ok.

**Jack of Clubs**

“No.” Luke tightens his grip around Calum’s waist, pulling him closer to fit against his body. Luke can feel light peeking in through his closed eyelids but that gives Calum no right to leave the bed.

Calum makes a disgruntled noise. “Get off me, I’ve got to piss.” Luke lets his arms slacken just a bit, enough for Calum to slide through. “Thanks.” Luke gets a kiss on the cheek before Calum leaves his embrace and Luke hears the soft pad of footsteps against the carpet.

It’s the first morning of their four days off. Calum’s birthday is the next day so Luke took off the weekend to spend it with Calum. They’ve yet to do a holiday properly together; holiday weekends always tending to be too busy to get anytime off. Neither of them had been able to go home for Christmas and instead had opted for a quick breakfast watching Christmas cartoons before they went to their battle stations.

But now it’s January and the hotel has calmed down enough that Luke can leave the casino to Liam and Hayley doesn’t need Calum for a few days. It’s exciting, the first time they’ve had more than two days off at all. Yet they still haven’t exactly decided what they are going to do yet.

Luke sees the bathroom door open and turns over and away from Calum walking towards the bed. Looking out from the shadow of their side of the building, Luke can see Vegas moving like an ant colony beneath them. In the distance the small dots of cars driving into the city outnumber the tail lights exiting the city. People come easily but have a hard time leaving.

Calum slides under the covers and tucks up behind Luke. Calum’s arm wraps around Luke’s waist. Luke folds his broad frame back into Calum, a feat that has never made sense to him but works, without fail Luke can fit into the space Calum allots. Now, he pushes his back up against Calum’s chest.

“Good morning.” Luke says, fully awake by now but not nearly ready to get up.

“Actually, it’s about one, so good afternoon.” Calum mumbles into Luke’s neck. Luke gets the distinct feeling that if either of them speak too loudly then they’ll have to leave their bed and be actual functioning adults for the day.

“Oh...” Luke takes a second to think about that and breaks the peace. “There’s no way it’s one.” He reaches out of the blanket and Calum cocoon and grabs for his phone on his bedside table. They couldn’t have gone to bed any later than two the night before and normally Luke is up by nine, at the latest, to get to work by ten every day. Even on days off, he’ll wake up if Calum needs to go in early. There’s no way it’s one in the afternoon.

Luke clicks his phone on and sees the 12:47 light up the display with a few text messages. One’s from Mikey, asking about the plans for Calum’s surprise party the next night. Luke quickly hides it from Calum’s view. The other two are from Liam,  one asking where Luke put the slot machine keys and the other a bunch of emojis and an i found them!.

Luke groans and turns to Calum. “How did we sleep in so late?” They wasted half of their first day off just sleeping. Calum’s got a soft smile on his face matched with his bright eyes.

“We’re on vacation, we’re just more relaxed. Besides, last night was pretty exhausting.” Calum smirks. Luke would blush but he and Calum have been together too long to be embarrassed by something like sex. Luke kisses Calum, keeping it simple. There’ll be plenty of time to repeat the events of the night before later.

“Do you want breakfast?” Luke asks between lazy kisses. Calum shakes his head.

“I want lunch.”

Luke grins, “How mad do you think Hayley would be if I called her?”

“She wouldn’t be. You know how she is.” And Calum’s right. Hayley can be in the middle of dinner rush, needed in all three of the restaurants, but she’ll still make time to sit with Luke if he gets a second to eat. She says it keeps her grounded, knowing her friends are there.

“What do you want?” Luke says as he dials the number and extension for The Diamond’s kitchen, no doubt Hayley will be there .

Calum thinks for a second before answering, “Burgers.”

Luke hits the call button and pulls the blanket up a little higher over his shoulder. “Sounds perfect.” He puts the phone on speaker between them.

The phone rings three times. “The Diamond Kitchen. How can I help you?” Luke frowns at the unfamiliar male voice. It’s normally Hayley who will answer the phones if she’s in the kitchen.

“Hey, can you get Hayley for me?” Luke asks and Calum rolls his eyes a bit. Calum has always thought Luke takes advantage of his position a bit too much in the hotel.

The guy on the line pauses for a second. “Uh, yes? Can I ask who’s calling and the reason?”

“It’s Luke.” Luke says, knowing they’ll know who he is and that he doesn’t need a reason.

“Right away sir.” The worker’s response makes Calum smile and Luke laugh. Just the idea of Luke being called something as formal as ‘sir’ is funny. It takes about thirty seconds for Hayley to pick up.

“Aren’t you on vacation? Shouldn’t you be avoiding work?” Hayley asks. It must be busy down there because her words come out a bit rushed.

“Bring us food.” Luke says and Calum chuckles a bit.

Hayley sighs. “Fine. What do you want?”

“Burgers. The ones with bacon. And fries.” Calum nods his head as they hold eye contact while Luke talks to Hayley.

“Someone will bring them up in 20 minutes.”

“No!” Luke says. “You have to bring them up.”

“Why?” She says, maybe getting a bit annoyed with their antics.

“Calum and I refuse to get out of bed for our vacation. We need you to bring them to us.”

Hayley knows they’re lying and just using excuses to make her come up. Luke and Hayley swapped room keys a few months back, and neither uses them as much as they expected to. But Luke knows Hayley keeps his key in her wallet and she probably hasn’t had lunch yet either.

Luke hears a snort on the other end of the line before Hayley speaks. “The earliest I can get there is 1:30, and that’s if everything runs smoothly down here until then.”

Calum nods his head, telling Luke to say yes to Hayley’s offer. “That’s good for us. See you in forty five minutes?”

“I’ll try. And stop using the company phone! You’re on vacation.” Hayley hangs up and the phone goes blank.

“Hmm.” Calum smiles and wraps an arm around Luke’s back. “What can we do with forty five minutes?”

******

“So what do you want to do tomorrow?” Luke asks Calum as he walks through the open bathroom doorway. As comfortable as they are with Hayley, they figured they should probably clean themselves up a bit before she comes up. Luke just finished taking a short shower, well, for him, and Calum is on his laptop in bed, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind seeing a show. I hear Martin Lloyd’s new act is supposed to be good.” Calum looks up from his laptop, Twitter most likely. He and Mikey have been known to get into Twitter battles before.

Luke scrunches his face on his way to his dresser, not really liking the idea. He and Martin have butted heads in the past, “I know a few other acts that are better. I can get some last minute seats.”

“Sounds good, we can get dinner then go to a show. Maybe we can convince Bridget to make me a cake.” Calum smiles up at Luke. Calum doesn’t know that Bridget, the baker for the confectionary at the hotel, is already making him a cake, a large one, enough for about fifty people.

“Uh...” Luke turns his back as he throws on a shirt and sweats, copying Calum’s attire. He’s never been very good at lying, especially not to Calum. He’s not sure he can look Calum in the face and be convincing. “Why don’t we see a matinee? So we can avoid the crowds.” Luke mentally pats himself on the back.

Calum gives Luke a puzzled look, but with a soft smile so Luke knows he’s only joking. “You have a lot of opinions on what we should do on my birthday.”

Luke shrugs, “Just want it to be the best.”

Luke dives onto the bed and cuddles up next to Calum, resting his chin to look over Calum’s shoulder. He could stay here all day. He really could. And Calum’s always up for a cuddle. Maybe they can work something out, spend at least two of their vacation days never leaving the bed and stockpiling cereal in the bed side tables. They could alternate positions so they’re both thoroughly snuggled and relaxed by the end of it all.

“You’re getting me wet.” Calum moves his head away from Luke’s still wet hair, focusing on the laptop screen. Not Twitter, it seems, but reviews for the hotel.

“We’re supposed to be on vacation.” Luke mumbles, kind of upset. He wants Calum to pay attention to him.

“I just wanted to see how we did compared to the other hotels over the holidays.” Calum turns to look at Luke quickly. He doesn’t have the proud look on his face he gets when he reads good reviews, so they must not have done as well as they hoped. Luke closes the laptop and takes it from Calum’s lap. He reaches over Calum’s side of the bed to set it on the ground. After he sets it down, he decides to stay there, sprawled across Calum’s lap. There are worse places he could be.

“You’re so lazy.” Calum says as he runs his fingers through Luke’s hair.

“Mrph.” Luke says into Calum’s hip. He is quite lazy. There’s never room to be lazy on the clock so he lets himself indulge now.

“Do you want your cards?” Calum asks and God, Luke loves him. He hasn’t said it yet, neither has Calum. But in between the casual touching and inside jokes, Luke knows they both feel it. They don’t really need the words just yet.

Calum reaches over to Luke’s side table, probably taking the silence as a yes from Luke.  Luke’s cards from last night are on the corner, waiting for their first shuffle of the day. But Luke doesn’t want those cards. He has the sudden urge to shuffle his first deck.

“Wait.” Calum immediately stops when Luke speaks, looking over to see Luke propped up on one elbow, still lying on Calum’s lower half. “Not that deck. There’s one in the bottom drawer...”

Calum grins at Luke and rolls out from underneath him. Luke grumbles, but moves out of the way too. It’s weird to be on Calum’s side of the bed, it’s a whole new perspective. Luke watches Calum reach into the drawer, an action Calum has watched Luke do hundreds of times. Calum looks back over at Luke, “Babe, you’re going to have to be more specific than that.”

Luke brings his legs up and rest his head on top of them, trying to figure out a way to describe the deck. “There’s a blue bicycle deck near the back. It’s rubber banded. It’s really worn.” Luke knows there’s a stain on the four of hearts right next to the bottom right heart and that the Queen of Spades has a crease running down the middle. But Calum won’t be able to see that.

“This one?” Luke turns to see Calum holding his first deck. Luke had carried it around for two years in the bottom of his backpack, taking it out in class, during recess, at night alone in his bed. He never even thought about buying another one until his mom bought him a four pack for his ninth birthday.

Luke nods. “Yeah.”

Calum inspects the deck, settling back against the headboard with his bum square on Luke’s pillow. Calum holds the deck delicately between his fingers. “It’s so old.” Calum’s eyes are focused on the deck, where the edges are all broken and the paper is peeling from the lamination.

Luke’s just as mesmerized, the deck is one of his most prized possessions. “It’s my first deck.” Luke feels Calum’s eyes flicker up to meet his, but Luke is too focused. “My mom gave it to me when I was seven. I used it for years.” Luke reaches up to cover Calum’s hand, running his thumb over the spot where Calum’s fingers touch the deck. “I haven’t let anyone else touch it in… almost twenty five years.”

Luke looks up at the last part, meeting Calum’s furrowed brows and pouted lips. His thinking face. Calum’s eyes are traveling over Luke’s face, slowly working their way from side to side and around before settling to meet Luke’s eyes dead on. There’s something intense about the stare between them, Luke feeling like he couldn’t possibly be more vulnerable and Calum seemingly gripping on to that. It’s such a simple thing, just showing Calum something that matters to him, but Luke feels like this moment matters.

Slowly, Calum places the deck of cards on the nightstand before leaning down to kiss Luke. Calum must feel it too, like this is a turning point of some sorts in their relationship.the air is charged between their lips with the words neither of them are saying.  Luke turns into Calum, wrapping his fingers in the shirt hanging around Calum’s waist. Maybe he should show Calum his old decks on a more regular basis.

Calum pulls back, “Do you want to play something? While we wait?”

Calum’s forehead is resting against Luke’s and Luke can’t open his eyes without seeing the tiny features of Calum’s face so close to his. Luke just nods, words a bit hard to grasp at the moment. He feels so lucky to have Calum sometimes.

“What was the first game you ever learned?” Calum asks Luke, breath hitting Luke’s face and feeling warm on Luke’s cheeks.

Luke thinks back. He had played adding games with his mom but they didn’t really translate to something they could play now. After that, he’d played go fish. The idea of playing go fish with Calum sounds so good yet completely ludicrous. So of course they’ll do it. “Go Fish.”

Calum laughs, his forehead pressing slightly harder against Luke’s before pulling away to sit back up. Luke opens his eyes as Calum starts to take the rubber band off Luke’s first deck. “Good. That I can play.”

Luke smiles and backs up against their headboard. Calum splits the deck into two parts and holds them as if he’s going to riffle shuffle them. Calum’s been practicing, he’s still not good and Luke’s not sure he ever will be, but Luke loves the effort Calum puts into it. Calum pauses before shuffling, looking up and waiting for Luke to nod before attempting a shuffle. He doesn’t start his hands at the same time and the cards kind of just flop on the bed. Luke has to cover his mouth with his hand to hide his snicker while Calum just looks at the cards, baffled that he didn’t do it.

“Here.” Luke says, holding out his hand for the cards. “They’re too worn for a normal riffle.” He shuffles with his two hands, pulling the top of the deck up and letting some cards fall down every time in different cascades. Calum moves to sit closer to Luke as he shuffles.

“What are you doing?” Luke asks.

“I’m sitting?” Calum says, puzzled.

“You’re too close. You’ll try and cheat and look at my cards.” Luke says it with a pout on his face and his hand on Calum’s stomach, pushing him back. “Move.”

“Fine.” Calum moves to sit in front of Luke, a small space between them to lay the deck. “Deal the cards.

Luke does and fans out his cards, organizing them by number and suit. “Do you have any fours?”

They’re still playing fifteen minutes later when they hear the door downstairs open and the click of Hayley’s heels across the tile in the kitchen. Luke takes the cards back from Calum, not exactly wanting to show two people his favorite deck in one day. He tucks them carefully back into the drawer.

“Are you decent?” Hayley says as she approaches the closed bedroom door.

“Give us a second.” Calum turns and sits up next to Luke, moving over to his own side of the bed. “We’re finishing up our totally awesome vacation sex.” Luke cackles at that and falls to lean against a smirking Calum.

Hayley takes that moment to enter. “You know I’m your boss, right?” As always, she looks fabulous and not like she’s just spent the last four hours in and out of kitchens. Her heels are scarlet and her pencil skirt black. She kicks the shoes off as soon as she closes the door.

“Luke wouldn’t let you fire me. Then he’d have to hire me and nobody wants that.” Calum beams up at Hayley, the two quite close now. Hayley had made him bar supervisor a few months back and since giving Calum a bit more power, they’d spent more and more time together, joking the whole time.

“Always pulling the boyfriend card.” Hayley pulls up the winged chair to the side of the bed before opening the paper bag in her left hand. She pulls out their lunches in styrofoam containers. “You’re welcome.”

“Thank you! We love you so much!” Luke throws his hands in the air and beckons for the food. Hayley hands over the containers and sighs.

“The things I do for you.”

“So how’s it going today?” Calum asks, already munching away at his fries. “Any big catastrophes?”

Hayley makes herself comfortable in the chair. It’s not the first time they’ve done this and it won’t be the last. “The shipment of oil came in with only 10 gallons instead of 100. They can’t bring me the rest until Monday so I have two days and very limited oil for four eateries.” She takes a bite of her burger as she rolls her eyes.

Luke frowns. “You should be good right? There’s no way you can use 10 gallons of oil in two days.”

Hayley has her mouth full and before she can answer, Calum pipes in, “There are fryers in every kitchen that each hold a few gallons that need to be changed out, especially when it’s busy. Plus, you need some just to have around the kitchens for when they cook. You’d be surprised.” Calum is nodding his head as he speaks, right hand somehow landing on Luke’s thigh. Calum just turns back to his food, one handed.

Luke darts a glance at Calum before speaking, “How do you know that? You work at the bar.”

Calum steals one of Luke’s fries and shrugs. “We have food at the bar. We go in the kitchens to get it, I know how they work.” Huh. Luke sometimes doesn’t realize just how capable of things Calum is. Just the other day, Luke had watched Calum handle a disgruntled guest during peak hours while somehow restocking all the stations. Luke should probably be paying more attention to his own job but seeing Calum in control just makes him feel proud. He can’t not watch him.

Hayley snaps at them, “You’re doing the thing again.”

Luke turns back, “Sorry, you have our undivided attention.” It’s not a complete lie.  But all Luke can think about is the way Calum’s hands held his first deck, like it was made of glass or an extension of Luke’s soul.  

*****

“So,” Calum wraps his jacket tighter around his shoulders as he speaks, “which card am I?” Calum smirks over at Luke as they approach a busy intersection on the strip.

Luke knew Calum would ask. For Calum’s birthday, Luke had taken Calum to his friend Ron’s magic show. It’s a new act in a small venue and it felt like a nice change of pace for Calum’s birthday show. Part of Ron’s act is figuring out what card best suits a volunteer and making it magically appear on the top of the deck. It’s an easy trick, Ron already knows what card is on the top of the deck. He uses suggestion to get the person to the particular card and then does false shuffle until he’s satisfied. Easy enough trick.

But Luke had known Calum would ask when Calum quirked an eyebrow at Luke after the volunteer had exited the stage. And Luke had been thinking about it since. It really hadn’t been a hard question to answer.

They stop at a crosswalk, Luke tracking the expensive cars rushing past rather than looking at Calum. “Nine of clubs.”

“Nine of clubs?” There’s humor in Calum’s voice. “Not the jack of hearts?”

Luke looks up to see Calum smiling into his eyes. It’s not a joke to Luke though. Cards aren’t something to joke about and Luke is taking this seriously.

“Too dramatic for you.” Luke answers with a small smile, pulling Calum by the sleeve to the side so others can get to the crosswalk while they lean against a column of a hotel. “You’re the nine of clubs. You’re humble like clubs, since they’re ranked as a low suit yet they still are strong when they get their turn to be trump. You’re curvy like a club and your hair is black.” Luke reaches up to tug a piece of Calum’s hair, “And nines are the forgotten heroes of cards. Dead useful in pinochle, handy in pitch, and important for straights in poker.” Luke lowers his hand to run his thumb along Calum’s jaw, “A card that might blend into the pack but is so special to me. My lucky charm.”

Calum’s eyes are soft and his lips are curved into the slightest of smiles. Luke can feel the bristles of his mostly shaved beard against his fingertips. “Lucky charm?”

Luke nods, maintaining eye contact until someone bumps into him from behind. The person doesn’t apologize and Calum laughs at Luke’s disgruntled face afterward.

“Come on,” Calum says and pulls Luke’s arm with him. “Let’s get back.”

They make the short walk back to the hotel and Luke sneakily texts Ashton the code word for them arriving. Calum talks about the different tricks he liked during the act and Luke only half listens. He’s too afraid to give the game away so he hides his smirk behind his scarf.

When they reach the lobby, Luke pulls Calum away from the bank of elevators and towards the entrance to the conference room near Ashton’s office. Harry had been in charge of decorations so Luke isn’t too worried whether it will look good or not. Knowing Harry, it’ll be wonderful.

“Wait.” Luke tugs on Calum’s wrist. Calum turns to give Luke a raised eyebrow. “I have to talk to Ashton before we head up. Official manager things.” Luke’s trying not to look Calum in the eye. He’s failing.

Calum steps towards Luke and grabs Luke’s hips before leaning in to whisper quietly in Luke’s ear. “But we’re on vacation and it’s my birthday. Can’t it wait?” Calum presses a few slow kisses to Luke’s neck right below his ear. Luke doesn’t really know what to do, about to reach the realm of distracted, so he yanks away from Calum and grabs his hand.

“Nope! Got to do it right now.” Luke manages as he pulls Calum down the hallway. He sets a fast pace and Calum can’t do much more than follow.

“We just passed his office.” Calum points out as they continue down the hallway.

“He’s in the conference room.” Luke calls over his shoulder, not slowing his walk. The conference room is in view now. The door is ajar but the lights are off, just how they planned it.

“Well, I’ll just wait out here then. Don’t take too long.” Calum gives Luke’s waist a squeeze.

“No!” Luke almost shouts it. He knows that everyone in the room will make fun of him for his terrible job at getting Calum to his surprise party. “I mean, you have to go in first.”

“Why?” Calum quirks an eyebrow.

“Because,” Luke shrugs before he speaks matter-of-factly, “I’m afraid of the dark.”

Calum stays leaning up against the wall, fixing Luke with a stare. Luke just fidgets and motions to the open doorway. “Come on Cal, please?”

Calum moves to the doorway and pushes it open a bit. “Ash?” Luke comes up behind him, pushes him in, and turns on the lights.

“Surprise!” Everyone shouts once the lights are on. All the hiding, secrets, and work the planning took are worth it to see a look of shock cross Calum’s face. “Happy Birthday!”

Calum’s face turns into a bright grin. He turns to Luke and points, “You.”

Luke just smiles bashfully, arms crossed in front of his chest. “Everyone helped. It wasn’t just me.”

Calum takes the step to get to Luke and wraps an arm around Luke’s waist, pulling him close. Calum places a quick kiss on Luke’s mouth and whispers “Thank you” in Luke’s ear. Luke savors the moment, Calum’s cheek pressed against his, before Calum has to go and talk to all the people who put together a surprise party for him.

Hayley totters over on her heels and gives Calum the first hug with a happy birthday kiss on the cheek. All of their friends start to pass Calum around, Ashton pulling Calum in for a noogie, Mikey grasping on to Calum like a teddy bear. Calum stops short when he sees Harry before pulling him into a hug.

“What are you doing here?” Calum exclaims.

“I had to come make sure you lot didn’t burn down the hotel.  Purely a coincidence I made it this weekend.” Harry winks before letting Calum go.

There are about forty people in the room, the majority are other employees from the hotel. Luke watches the blinding grin on Calum’s face as he mingles. Luke knows that it’s not so much the surprise party or the presents, it’s the fact that they gave up their evening working that makes Calum so happy, knowing he was worth missing their work. Not many people in the room are known to take breaks at all. Luke doesn’t even know how the hotel is still standing when all of the managers are currently in one room, including a bulk of the supervisory staff. Liam had left Zayn, a promising young pit boss, in charge so Liam could celebrate for at least a few hours with them. Luke would be sick to his stomach with nerves if the bright expression of happiness on Calum’s face wasn’t the only thing on his mind.

Calum ends up leaving Luke’s side for the better part of an hour. Which is totally fine with Luke, he’s got a great view of the festivities and occasionally gets one of Calum’s smiles sent his way. Luke chats with Harry for a bit, about his plans to leave the next morning and go back to LA, promising to stop by Luke’s apartment before he goes to chat and catch up.  Then Luke finds a table in the corner of the room and plops himself down with a glass of wine. He’s rather proud of himself, this whole thing being his idea. And it’s going swimmingly.

A hand clamps down on his shoulder. “Excuse me stranger, but is anyone sitting there?” It’s Mikey, kicking at the chair on Luke’s right.

“I’m afraid that chair is reserved for one of my very best friends.” Luke takes on a formal tone to his voice, going back on an inside joke of his and Mikey’s from college, right around the time Mikey stopped hating Luke for stealing his grandmother.

“Well then it must be mine.” Mikey turns the chair to Luke before pouring himself into it. “Why’re you all by yourself?”

“Taking a breather from watching a bunch of people love my boyfriend.” Luke shrugs.

It’s odd sometimes, how much his life at the hotel has become just as much his life with Calum. Luke wonders sometimes what it would’ve been like if he hadn’t talked to Calum the night he did. It had been his first day off. After he’d spent a shift working the tables, he’d sat at the bar talking to the cute bartender he almost fired. A few days later, they were falling into bed together and now there’s not a surface in the hotel or an employee who doesn’t have Calum’s finger prints. If Calum and he ever break, Luke will be swimming in a world of Calum even if he never sees him again. This just happens to include all of Luke’s friends. Especially the one sitting next to him.

“Well I hate the guy, if it makes you feel any better.” Mikey says. Luke reaches out to flick his ear because they both know the words are so untrue. Mikey and Calum got on within seconds of meeting each other. Mikey continues “Honestly though, I’m really happy for you Luke. You two seem so settled. Nothing like the guy I lived with for six years.”

Luke lets that sink in. He’d been a different person when he and Mikey had split an apartment on the northern side of town. Luke working his two jobs with ridiculous amounts of hours and Mikey putting in the time and effort to start his own business. They’d always been frazzled. They saw each other a few nights a week and stayed connected but their lives were hectic, both of them too busy to even think of keeping up relationships.  Luke feels calmer now, finds himself sitting still sometimes without even wanting to touch his cards. The old Luke wouldn’t believe it.

“How’s the apartment then?” Luke asks. They’d lived there for what felt like forever. After Luke had moved out, Mikey had turned Luke’s room into a studio to record his company jingles, his business, rather than the living room like how they’d had it.

Mikey takes a sip of his beer. “Misses you. It doesn’t miss you flooding the bathroom but...yeah. The apartment feels just a bit too empty these days.” Mikey gives a wry smile, trying not to make Luke feel bad.

“Tell it I say hi.”

“Tell it yourself. Your next day off, come by for a visit. We haven’t properly talked since before I went home for the holidays.” Mikey knocks his beer bottle gently against Luke’s wine glass.

“How’s my girl doing?” Luke ask, almost afraid to.

Mikey sighs, a far off look in his eyes. Luke loves Gladdie fiercely but even he knows that no one loves their grandmother as much as Mikey loves Gladdie. “She’s getting worse again. It’s pretty obvious even though she puts on a good face.” He lets out a breathy laugh, exasperated. “Won’t let us put her in a home. She wants to keep the house. As much as I want her to stay there, I just wish she’d let us take care of her.”

Luke runs a hand through his hair, making a note that he has to get home, even if only for a day trip, and soon. He has so many stories to tell Gladdie. “I’ll have to visit.”

Mikey nods, “She’d like that. Always loves it when you guys talks. Calls me up the next day and says it’s unacceptable for her honorary grandson to call more than her blood grandson.”

Luke smiles, “She does the same to me. I’ll get a call in the middle of work but I can’t not take it. I have to stay the favorite.” Luke smirks at Mikey as Mikey starts to say something, but they’re interrupted.

“Luke!” It’s Ashton, across the room by the table where all of Calum’s presents sit. Calum is sitting behind the table next to a mound of wrapping paper. It seems Calum gave into Ashton and his child like wonder and decided to start opening the few gifts people brought. “Come here, we’re opening yours next.”

Luke looks pointedly at the opened gifts next to Calum, whining a bit, “Why didn’t you tell me? I wanted to watch you open them.”

Calum just smiles and scooches the chair back a bit. Calum pats his lap and motions for Luke to sit down. “Sorry, I saved the best for last though.”

Calum holds up what is obviously a wrapped deck of cards. Everyone can tell by looking at it exactly what it is and the fact that it’s Luke’s present gives it away entirely. But Calum still has a sense of energy and excitement about him. Luke hopes he’s still as excited when he opens the gift.

Luke sits down on Calum’s offered lap. “Don’t get your hopes up to high.”

Ashton cuts him off. “Wait, are we really sure we want Calum to open Luke’s present here? I don’t think I want to see that.”

Hayley, who’s sitting next to Calum and Luke on the table top, interjects, “Speak for yourself.” She sends them a wink afterwards and the look on Ashton’s face is beautiful.

Harry adds his two cents next. “I bet it’s a sexy card game. Like, a deck that has different positions on it and when one card is dealt, you’ve got to do it.” He raises his eyebrows at Luke, asking if he’s right. Luke smiles and nods, even though Harry is far from the truth.

“Come on Calum, open it up.” Ashton urges, apparently singing a different tune. Luke feels Mikey’s eyes on him from across the table. Mikey gives Luke a thumbs up and Luke returns the signal where his arm is wrapped around Calum’s shoulder.

“I have to start with the card.” Calum holds up the white envelope with Calum’s name on it. Luke snuggles in closer to Calum as the envelope tears. Calum holds up the paper, reading out the words written in a fancy font Liam had helped Luke pick out. “This coupon entitles you to one free tattoo.” Calum looks up at Luke, a grin on his face. “Perfect.”

Luke shrugs, his shoulder bumping into Calum’s ear they’re so close. “I knew you’ve been meaning to get another one. I set it all up with Reggie so all you have to do is call him and make the appointment.”

“Thanks Lukey. I’ve just got to decide on what to get now.” Calum grips Luke’s waist and says it with a far off look in his eye, like he’s taking in everything at once. Luke feels like he’s under a microscope and Calum is trying to figure him out.  

Hayley pushes Calum’s shoulder, ruining the tense moment and Luke doesn’t know if he’s upset about it or not. She follows up with some chiding. “Get your heads out of the clouds and open the damn present.”

Calum turns to pick up the small deck. Luke’s cheek is against the wisps of Calum’s hair as he watches Calum slowly unwrap the deck. Luke’s second guessing the gift. This could very well be the beginning of their end if Calum thinks it’s weird or creepy. So Luke’s hand grips Calum’s shoulder, even when Calum gives him a confused glance, because there’s a slight chance it will be the last time he can.

Luke feels Calum’s expression change from excitement to confusion when the rubber band is revealed. Calum slowly finds the worn edges and brushes them against his fingers. The blue and white of the backs matches the colors that Harry chose for the tablecloth and it all feels a little like the last of a puzzle coming together.

“What deck is this?” Calum asks.

Luke nudges his nose into Calum’s thick hair. “Look on the bottom card.”

Calum turns the cards over in his hands, revealing his signature and the date from six months before, all scrawled across the front of the nine of clubs. It takes Calum a moment to place it. “From the meeting?”

Luke can’t see Calum’s face when he starts to explain the gift. “Yeah. Ever since I started doing ambitious card tricks, I’ve kept the decks of the people who are important to me. It’s that bottom drawer in the desk I keep locked.” Calum turns his head to look at Luke and Luke suddenly feels a little self conscious and a bit creepy. “I kept yours after that first night. I just figured I would want it.”

Luke feels like he just laid all his cards out on the table, literally, and the second it takes Calum to smile up at him is the longest second of his life. Calum’s hand on his waist squeezes. It feels like some sort of confirmation, that Calum thought Luke was special that first night too.

*****

Luke really shouldn’t. He carefully loops his tie in a half windsor as he shakes his head at himself in the mirror. At least he didn’t go full out, he’s just got a button up with slacks and a tie on. He decided to stay away from the suit cupboard because that would feel like overkill.

But what else can he do? He woke up an hour ago to a note from Calum saying Calum had ‘something’ to do and he’d be back around lunch time. Luke spent the first lonely hour of his third day of vacation re-reading E.W. Erdnase’s treatise on card manipulation. But then he got bored and got the brilliant idea to go into work.

It’s a quarter after ten on his day off and Luke is grabbing his key card and deck, heading out the door to the elevators. Today he also brings his phone. He sends a text to Calum in the elevator. **Just come to my office when you get back, we can get lunch at annes.**

The ride is quiet and Luke feels some of the stress of wondering about his casino fade away. Last night he had asked for a progress report from Liam at Calum’s party but Liam had refused. He had said Luke needed to fully get away. But Luke can’t do it.

His phone buzzes in his pocket. It’s a text from Calum. **NO! Resist the temptation!** Luke wants to listen to him but it’s then that the doors slide open and he sees the morning buzz of the hotel around him. He takes the step out of the elevator and smiles because this is what he does best.

 **Sorry...I’m weak** is what he ends up sending back. Luke knows Calum is not actually mad. Calum also probably knows that Luke has started to get jittery avoiding the casino for the last two days. It’s fine when Calum’s there, a welcome distraction from all the work to be done. But how can he deny himself the pleasure he gets from working if Calum’s not there to entertain? If this is what he chooses to do for fun, shouldn’t he get to do it on his days off?

His office is on the back wall of the casino, right off the side of the high stakes tables. It’s a door marked with _Manager_ that could be mistaken for a utility closet if you’re not looking for it. Luke likes it that way.

Harry had set it up so there was a small reception area, a few plush chairs with a coffee table right inside the door. Harry had insisted it was for privacy reasons even though Luke doesn’t see much of a need for it. At first, Liam and he had discussed making it Liam’s office, but they prefer to share the large room in the back, Luke’s desk placed facing the door, at the back of the room and Liam’s to the side. It works better for them that way.

When Luke walks through the door, he’s taken by surprise. There’s a person sitting at a new desk in the reception area. He’s young, wearing a sweater vest of all things. He’s typing something on a desktop computer, but he looks up when Luke walks in. Luke immediately thinks he's the five of diamonds, all shaky and timid yet efficient.

“Can I help you?” The man asks, confused expression filling his face. Luke’s probably the first person this guy’s seen walk in besides Liam. That’s when Luke remembers; the secretary. Ashton had gotten sick of Luke borrowing his secretaries and PAs for events and decided to hire one for him. Luke remembers an HR folder being placed on his desk with the credentials but not much else.

“It’s Jim, right?” Luke asks as he walks to the desk right in front of the door to his office. Jim, well Luke thinks that’s the right name, sits up a bit straighter at that. Luke extends his hand. “Luke Hemmings.”

Adam stands up immediately and shakes Luke’s hands. “Mr. Hemmings. Great to meet you. Sorry about that, Mr.Payne said you wouldn’t be in until Wednesday.”

“It’s Luke. And if Liam is insisting on you calling him Mr.Payne, then I’m firing him.” Luke means it as a joke and Jim seems to get it, a bashful grin filling his face.

“No, he said to do the same. I’ll remember for next time.” Jim smiles at Luke.

“Well, I hope everything’s been good. Liam’s not working you too hard?” Luke says and Jim immediately shakes his head.

“No. It’s been good so far.” Jim sits back down, straightening things out on his desk. “If you need me to do anything, let me know.”.

“Will do. And ask if you have any questions.” Luke waves over his shoulder as he goes into his office.

Everything is much how he left it, the surface of his desk clean and the computer off. Liam is sat at his desk, talking on the phone to someone.

“Yes, we should be able to accommodate you that weekend. Wonderful.” Liam looks up and gives Luke a little wave while he talks. A second later, he seems to realize Luke’s not supposed to be there and frowns at Luke. Luke just smiles and gives Liam a thumbs up before sitting down at his desk.

Luke boots up his computer while keeping one ear listening to Liam’s conversation. They’d recently been left without a groups coordinator, the older woman who’d worked at one of Harry’s other hotels who’d been doing it had asked to retire, saying Vegas was too much for her. Harry was on the look out for someone new to hire, but until then it was up to whoever was available to set up the large group events and bookings. It seems like Liam got stuck with a conference for 200 people in May.

Luke is halfway through his emails when Liam finally hangs up the phone. “What are you doing here?”

Liam doesn’t look mad, he just doesn’t understand why Luke does this. Luke puts on his best pouty face before responding. “Calum left me all alone.”

Liam smiles at that. “And the casino is the next best thing?”

Luke nods, “I met our secretary.”

Liam nods and picks up a poker chip he normally keeps on him, twiddling it when he needs something to do with his hands. “He seems like a good kid. Graduated from University of Arizona, apparently worked part time for a few years as a receptionist to a CEO of some clothing company. Don’t know how he did it but he came on good recommendations.”

Luke nods, “Think he’ll be good?”

Liam shrugs and turns to make sure the door is closed. “Yeah, seems a bit nervous now. We’ll have to watch him but he seems like he’ll be a good fit.”

“Good, now tell me about the casino.”

Liam updates Luke on all the happenings over the last few days, adding in funny stories about the guests. Apparently Zayn kept everything running smoothly the night before while Liam took his break for the party. Luke thinks it’s probably because anyone who sees Zayn is struck dumb and complacent by his unnaturally good looks.

Luke spends the next hour going through paper work and working on the pit bosses’ task schedule for the week; who will be where and what jobs they’ll have to do. He puts in an order for more decks too, people buying them is eating through their reserve.

“Sir?” It’s around noon when Jim knocks and opens the door. Both Liam and Luke look up. “Luke, there’s a man out here who says he’s your boyfriend?” Jim says it with hesitance, like someone’s playing a joke on him.

Luke frowns. Jim isn’t the first one to think Luke and Calum’s relationship is a joke. People have assumed it’s a ruse, two straight guys making a very rude joke. Luke wonders how long he and Calum need to be together before people actually believe they’re a couple, how many times they have to walk down the street holding hands before someone doesn't assume it's a stunt.

“That’s Calum.” Luke says, a bit of a bite to his tone, “He can come in whenever he wants, you don’t have to check with me.” Luke starts logging off of his computer, knowing that Calum will want to get out quickly.

“Oh, sorry.” Jim stays in the doorway, hands behind his back, and Liam explains.

“You’ll get used to him. Calum works in the bar so he’s always in here. They’re practically inseparable,” Liam throws a smile towards Luke, “and Calum knows everything about the casino anyways.”

“That’s not true. He still hasn’t told me the safe codes.” Calum’s face appears in the doorway behind Adam.

Luke pretends to be angry at Calum, “Well, now I never will. Thanks for leaving me on our vacation.”

Jim quickly steps out of the way and back to his desk, probably realizing he has no place in the conversation. Calum takes his place at the door jamb. “I’m sorry, I promise it was something important.”

Luke can’t really say no to that smile, but he tries to hide his grin when he replies, “I guess it’s ok.”

“What’d you have to do?” Liam asks, reclined back in his chair.

Calum smirks at Liam, “I cashed in one of my birthday coupons.”

Luke’s heart races at that. He asks, “Which one?” Calum just levels Luke with a stare. “You got the tattoo didn’t you? Already?”

“Yep, texted Reggie last night and asked when the soonest he could see me was. I went in before the shop opened today. Thanks for the tattoo, babe.” Calum is leaning against the door with his arms crossed, the twist to his eyes that lets Luke know he's messing with him. Luke can’t see any bandages or new ink, but Calum has a sweater and jeans on so the tattoo could be hiding anywhere under there.

Luke is out of his seat and across the room in a second, untangling Calum’s arms to get a better look at Calum's body while Calum chuckles. “Where is it?” Luke asks. Calum’s teasing him, he knows just how much Luke loves his tattoos.

“I’ll show you after lunch. I’ve got to keep it bandaged for at least another hour.” Calum stops Luke’s hands by grabbing his wrists.

“I bet you got a tramp stamp that says Luke.” Liam guesses from his chair, his seemingly innocent face masking his true self.

Luke grins while Calum out right laughs and turns around, pointing to his bum. “Close, I’ve got L U on this cheek and K E on the other.” Luke just smiles at Calum but there’s a part of him that lights up at the idea that Calum might’ve gotten something for him or to represent them. It’s a tattoo. That’s more than just commitment.

“You ready?” Calum murmurs to Luke, hand sliding along Luke’s waist to pull him closer.

Luke nods and turns to Liam. “I’ll see you on Friday?”

Liam shakes his head with a fond grin. “If you don’t come down tomorrow.”

Calum buts in, “He won’t be. We’re spending all tomorrow in bed.”

Liam waves them off, “Didn’t need to know that. See you friday, guys.”

Luke smiles and Calum shuts the door behind them. They are met by the sight of Harry and Jim in the midst of a staring contest. Harry is grinning, sitting on the corner of Jim’s desk. Jim is fumbling with his shirt cuffs, a bit of a blush coming on the corner of his cheeks.

“So, if you need anything, anything at all, don’t be afraid to ask.” Harry smiles right at Jim. Jim’s fingers are twitching a bit as he smooths out his calendar.

“Harry?” Luke asks. Harry doesn’t normally come down to the casino, preferring to stick around Ashton’s offices.

Harry turns his head to look up at Luke and Calum, noticing for the first time. He stands up and off the table, pointing a finger at Luke. “You.” He drops his hand and takes a step forward, becoming the beloved boss figure. There’s not a trace of the flirtatious smirk on his lips, “You weren’t in your apartment.”

Luke had completely forgotten about Harry stopping by before he left. “Sorry, I forgot. I hope you didn’t change your plans too much to come down here.” Luke knows how crucial Harry’s schedule is. He’s the owner of twelve luxury hotels across the country and two more overseas. Just a minute of Harry Styles time is valuable.

“Plans?” Harry asks, confused look on his face.

“To go back to LA today.” Luke supplies.

“Oh.” Harry’s mouth turns into a flat line and his eyebrows furrow before he adopts a neutral expression. “Well, actually, I think I’m going to stick around here for a bit. I don’t spend nearly enough time here, considering it’s the newest installment.”

Calum, an amused expression on his face, asks, “When exactly did you decide that? A few minutes ago.” Luke snorts while Harry just grins and makes eye contact with Jim for a moment.

“Maybe,” Harry smiles crossing his arms, “Well, I’m off then. Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be staying. I’ll go tell Hayley now.”

“We’re heading in that direction too.” Luke says and pulls Calum with him as Harry starts to leave.

“Oh wait.” Harry turns back around. Calum and Luke stop but it’s Jim that Harry is talking to now. “Jim, call me Harry from now on, yeah?”

Jim, seated at his desk with his hands folded neatly in front of him, looks to Harry with a small grin. “Goodbye Harry.”

Harry grins, nods his head once and waves goodbye, before stepping out of the doorway. Calum and Luke follow, sending their polite goodbyes over their shoulders. Harry is waiting outside.

“You didn’t tell me you were getting a cute new secretary Lukey,” Harry falls into step with them as they make their way through the casino.

“I didn’t know I was getting a cute new secretary Harry,” Luke says and pokes Harry in the side. Harry recoils and pushes Luke’s hand away.

“I didn’t think he was particularly cute.” Calum says, looking a little surprised over at Harry.

Luke puts his hand in Calum’s back pocket and says, “That’s because you’re spoiled. You get to wake up to this every day.” Luke pouts his lips and motions to his face with his hand that’s not gripping Calum’s bum. Calum grins and laughs.

Harry rolls his eyes, a cross between exasperated and fond. “Well, looks like I’ll be seeing you guys around a bit more now. Some good news.”

Luke turns back to Harry. He’s not sure how far Harry’s going to take this. “Wait, you’re really staying?”

Harry shrugs, “Yeah, why not? I really don’t spend enough time here.”

They’re rounding the side of the casino, right near the hall to the lobby. Luke turns back to Harry,  “Are you going to start bothering my secretary?”

Harry bumps their shoulders together, “Maybe, I’ve always wanted my own Calum.”

They’ve reached the casino entrance. Harry starts to walk away but Calum calls after him, “You are aware of something called sexual harassment, right?”

Harry turns, walking backwards for a moment, makes sure no guests are around, and flips Calum off. Luke can’t help but to practically fall over with laughter. When he can breathe normally, Calum looks to Luke, “Lunch?”

Luke nods, pulling Calum away from the casino behind him.

*******

It’s not until an hour later that Luke remembers the tattoo. He and Calum are in the elevator headed up and Luke looks over to a smirking Calum.

“It’s been an hour, you know.” Calum says through a grin. Luke is on him instantly, pulling at the hem of Calum’s shirt. “No, wait.” Calum laughs and presses his hand to Luke’s chest. “Wait until we get inside.”

Luke doesn’t need to be told twice. He drags Calum out the doors and into the apartment, Calum grinning along the way. Within a minute they’re inside the apartment and Calum’s shirt is off.

“Oh.” Luke says, a bit in awe. There’s a long ace bandage wrapped around Calum’s chest, starting at his right shoulder and hugging his middle under his left arm pit. Luke can see the white edges of a gauze pad right above Calum’s heart and realizes the tattoo must be there. “Can I?” He asks, hand poised at the top of the ace bandage.

Everything somehow slows down. Calum barely nods his head and grins at Luke. Luke carefully starts un wrapping the bandage, passing the bulk of the bandage around Calum’s body until it’s all unfurled. Luke holds the gauze in place as he tosses the ace bandage in the corner.

“I hope you like it.” Calum murmurs, hand reaching up to encircle Luke’s wrist. Luke pauses at that, knowing he’ll like it even if it’s someone else’s name in an arrow heart. But the severity in Calum’s eyes shows just how important this is to him and Luke wants to prove himself. Calum pulls Luke’s hand away and the gauze with it.

Luke can’t breathe for a moment. Over Calum’s heart is the nine of clubs. Not the words, or just the number and symbol, but the to-scale card face that is the nine of clubs. The edge cuts a defined line into Calum’s chest and Luke can tell it’s the same font and sizing as a bicycle deck.

Luke is mesmerized. He throws the wad of cotton into a corner, not bothering to take his eyes off the tattoo. He brings up one finger to lightly trace the outlines of the shapes. The deep black etched into Calum's skin is hauntingly beautiful. Calum’s hand settles at Luke’s waist. Calum’s voice is nervous when he asks, “Is this ok?”

This is the commitment conversation they’d been avoiding by just becoming more committed to each other. Like, instead of just asking Calum to move in, Luke had been insisting Calum spend more time in the apartment and hardly ever letting him go back to his own. And now it seems like Calum had decided to go with permanent ink instead of just asking where they were headed.

“I love you.” Luke breathes out, eyes darting up to meet Calum’s.

“I love you too.” Calum’s voice is filled with relief. Luke starts pressing soft kisses along the outskirts of the tattoo, the skin red and puffy. Calum reaches up and buries a hand in Luke’s hair, fingers twisting gently.

Luke turns his head into Calum’s neck and grabs onto Calum’s waist while Calum’s arms wrap around Luke’s shoulders. Luke feels like there’s something in him that’s settling, there’s an ocean in his gut that has slowly calmed as he’s been with Calum but now even the gentle waves slow to a stop. Luke is just so content with the man holding him and he can’t believe that Calum still puts up with him sometimes.

Calum’s throat moves against Luke’s cheek as he swallows, opening his mouth to speak, “I think this is it for me Lukey.” Calum presses the words into the top of Luke’s cheek, soft brushes of his lips. Luke’s whole body shivers at the words. It’s exactly how he’s been feeling, like it doesn’t matter who he meets over the rest of his life, Calum is still going to be the best person for him.

“Calum.” Luke pretty much whines the word. He shifts so his forehead is pressed against Calum’s, their bodies quickly meeting from their shoulders to their interlaced feet. Luke has the distinct feeling like he might cry. “I love you so much. I can’t...you’re it for me too.”

Calum moves them at that, pressing Luke back into the wall. He tips Luke’s head up and starts kissing up and down Luke’s neck, working on getting Luke’s tie off one handed. Luke places his right hand over Calum’s heart and the tattoo, still not really believing it’s there. Calum is his, his special lucky charm.

Luke takes a breath and uses his left hand against Calum’s cheek to move him so Luke can look in Calum’s eyes. Calum’s attention immediately snaps up to Luke, searching for a kiss, eyes smiling and lips puffy. Luke can’t wait to kiss him again, but first he needs to ask something.

“Move in with me, yeah? Properly? So it’s not ‘the’ apartment or ‘the’ bed. They’re ours.” Luke moves his hand back into Calum’s hair. He takes a second to realize that he’s much higher up than he should be and that somehow Calum pushed him up the wall and Luke wrapped his legs around Calum’s waist without even realizing it. But Luke’s thankful for it, the steady grip of Calum’s hands on Luke’s thighs holding him up is grounding almost, grounding him to a person rather than something as frivolous as the floor. Luke continues when Calum doesn’t speak immediately. “They have been for a long time Cal, they’re ours.”

Calum nods and leans into press a soft kiss to Luke’s lips. It’s just one of Calum’s quirks, preferring to press the emotion into Luke’s skin and body rather than through words. Sometimes it’s hard for Luke and he just wants to hear what it is that Calum is trying to say, but it always sends Luke into a fit of chills, trying to piece together the meaning behind the soft bites and strong hands.

Calum pulls back just a hair. “Of course. Of course Luke.”

Luke suddenly gets frighteningly impatient. “Come on Calum, take me to bed. Our bed.”

“I’m still not carrying you up those stairs.” Calum says with his nose pressing into Luke’s cheek. Luke can’t help the sudden laugh that surprises them both and causes Calum to chuckle as well.

“Fine,” Luke says, still grinning because this feels far less serious and far more their usual speed, “take me to our couch then.”

“Did you replace the lube?” Calum kisses along Luke’s jaw line and Luke tries to remember if he did. Buying more lube for the living room had definitely been on his list of to-dos but he’s pretty sure it’s still on there.

“No,” Luke pouts, “you’re such a mood ruiner.”

“What? Not up for it because you’re too lazy to walk up a flight of stairs.” Calum says with a smile as he starts quickly unbuttoning Luke’s shirt. Luke is most definitely still up for it.

“I’ll walk up the stairs as soon as you put me down.” Luke unhooks his legs from around Calum’s waist and Calum lowers him to the ground. It’s a race to their room from that point. Luke's pretty sure they both win.

 

**Eight of Diamonds**

It’s the end of a long day for Luke. Connie’s third Bridge to the Cure tournament is reaching the long awaited end. Most of the tables of people who didn’t make it through the final rounds are chatting quietly and snacking on the fancy finger foods the catering company brought in this morning. Luke is watching the last match carefully, but he already knows who’s going to win.

Connie’s idea to throw fundraisers for worthy causes has been a hit at the club, bringing in non regulars who are just looking to support and have a bit of fun while doing it. People buy into their seat and all the money goes to a charity. This one is for cancer research. This is the third December they’ve done it, and people are continually more generous. It is the giving time of year, after all.

“I don’t think we need to tally the points on that last hand to call it.” Luke steps up to the table and looks at the four women. One pair is new here, formidable players who made it this far on risky plays that somehow panned out but probably shouldn’t have. Luke took note of some of the hands and is going to call Gladdie about them later, see how she would’ve played them. He has his ideas, but hers are normally better.

The other pair at the table smile at each other, that look that partners have where they can talk to each other through their eyes. It’s an important skill in bridge and these two seem to have it. Luke’s just a bit proud since he introduced them.  

It had been within his first few months at the club. He’d met Grace on his very first day. She was young compared to the other people in the bridge club and was drawn to Luke, feeling more comfortable with someone her own age. At first she had thought he was a new player and had wanted to see if they had any chemistry. The club has certain times when singles can come play, matching up before going to the tables. Grace had been having bad luck even though she was a good player. Her partners just couldn’t read her well. Luke always wanted to step in and play a game with her, figuring he understood her a bit better, but it wasn’t his place to do so.

Anne he’d noticed during his second month. The only reason why it hadn’t been sooner was because she never won games. Her and an old friend would come in and play once a week, but the friend didn’t have the patience for bridge like Anne did. Anne’s quiet looks and surprising melds just left her partner lost.

Luke thought about it for weeks before actually doing something about it, asking Connie her advice on the matter. She, of course, had shouted with a smile, “Absolutely! That’s the type of floor manager I want. It’s their fault if they don’t see your expertise.” Luke had sat them down the next day and introduced them.

Over eight years later, Grace and Anne are still a force to be reckoned with. They had only needed another one hundred points to win the game but Luke’ pretty sure that last hand went much higher. He’ll have to talk to them about showing off later, both of them dear friends by now. He’d love to play against them with Gladdie, but Gladdie is passed her playing days.

The saddest thing Luke’s ever seen is Gladdie trying to hold her cards up and then watching them slip out of her grasp with an exasperated sigh. Luke tries not to think about it much.  

Anne and Grace are shaking their opponents’ hands, getting up from the table. The fundraiser is officially over. Luke stand off to the side, barely raising his voice to get everyone’s attention. They respect him here.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you so much for coming out today and supporting this cause. I hope you enjoyed yourself and the play. Feel free to stay and talk, we won’t kick you out just yet. Have a wonderful evening.” Everyone in the room politely claps before returning back to their conversations.

An arm comes up and around Luke’s shoulder. “Are you at the Bellagio tonight?” Grace is from New York City and her accent always catches Luke a bit off guard, so used to the Pacific twang people develop in Vegas. She moved for work, she’s a lights specialist for stage shows, jumps from hotel to theater depending on where the money is. She’s also a head shorter than Luke but she’s always thought she is the same height.

Luke turns his head to look down at her. She’s started wearing her dirty blonde hair in more and more complex updos that compliment her classic, simple, style. “No, but I plan on staying here until closing.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Anne comes up on his other side. Her back story is far more interesting. She married her high school sweetheart who just happened to be the heir to the Styles Luxury Hotel chain. After a few years of happy marriage and even more unbearably awful ones, Anne took her settlement from the divorce and moved to Vegas. Apparently her ex husband hated it here and would never step a foot in the city limits. She hasn’t stepped a foot out since she signed the divorce papers twenty years before.

“You both realize that I’m the floor manager, not just your cheerleader. I do have work things to do.” He turns out of Grace’s hold, crossing his arms  and fixing them with a polite smirk.

Grace just pops her hip and pouts at him. “You’re just going to mingle with people. Come to dinner with us instead,” Her eyes shine and she lowers her voice, “Anne promised me she’d take me to that new French place if we won. It’s supposed to be amazing.”

“How’d you manage that? I hear it’s impossible to get reservations.” Luke looks between the two of them.

Grace smiles wide, “I know the manager, one of my older sister’s friends. Called her yesterday and said I needed a table for three and she squeezed us in. You’ve gotta love Vegas.” With so much of the city only in town for a few days at a time, it’s relatively easy to make friends with the people who are here year round and even easier to get them to do things for you when asked. Like a loyalty and barter system all in one.

“What do you owe her?” Luke asks, smirking.

Grace shrugs, “Nothing big. Tickets to that Miley Cyrus revival show I worked on last month. Fair trade. Actually,” Grace turns to Anne, “I’m thinking of setting her up with Ashton. When you meet her tonight, tell me if it’s a good idea?”

“Of course dear.” Anne settles a hand on Grace’s elbow. It’s sometimes hard to watch Grace and Anne interact, Luke always feels a pang of jealousy and nostalgia over missing Gladdie. Grace and Annes’ relationship is very much like Lukes and Gladdies’, Anne has become somewhat of a motherly figure to Grace. They live near each other and get lunch a few times a week. They know practically everything about each other at this point. When they bring Luke out with them, Luke gets lost in the conversation easily but enjoys it all the same. Grace even introduced Anne to Anne’s current boyfriend. They’ve been together a few years now and Grace has never been prouder of her match making abilities.

“Thanks for the invitation, but I really should stay here.”

“No.” Anne gives him her scolding mother look. “I talked to Connie and she says you’re done for the night. Besides, I have a business opportunity to discuss with you.”

“Connie agreed to let me go to discuss a business opportunity? That doesn’t sound like her.” It really doesn’t. Connie’s a great boss but she’s also gotten in the way of every person who has tried to offer Luke another job. Luke doesn’t mind, he doesn’t really want to leave the club anyways.

Anne pauses a moment, eyes scanning the people around them, before speaking quietly, “I told her what it was and she said she’s not so cruel as to keep you.”

Grace grabs his shoulder, “Come on Luke, our reservation’s in forty five minutes and it’s going to take that long to get out of the parking lot.”

Luke turns, eyes searching for Connie in the crowd. She’s laughing at something a guest is saying, but Luke manages to make eye contact. He raises his eyebrows and points toward the door. She nods her head and gives him the thumbs up. “Well, ok. I guess I’ll go.”

Grace grabs both his and Anne’s hands, pulling them to the door. “Sweet, you haven’t ridden in my new car yet.”

“What is it this time? A truck?” Luke asks. It’s a running joke that Grace like big cars, every time her lease is up she goes for an even bigger model.

Anne makes eye contact with Luke behind Grace’s back and mouthes, _An SUV_. Luke is about to laugh when he sees that Anne’s eyes are serious and that Grace is pulling them towards a huge dark blue Jeep.

“Grace?! How do you even park this thing?” Luke stares at the car. He has a small Ford Fiesta that he hardly ever drives, preferring to walk around the city or take public transport rather than brave the crazy roads of Vegas.

Grace just smirks at him as she pulls out her keys. “Carefully.”

******

When they reach the restaurant, they’re immediately seated. The other groups waiting grumble and glare. Luke wants to smile at them and tell them if they want a table they’ll have to change zip codes.

The table is in a nice spot too, right near a window overlooking the strip. The restaurant is on the top floor of an office building and the view is worth the over priced food alone. Luke’s not worried about dinner, Anne always pays for them, saying she loves to spend her ex husbands money in the town he hated.

Luke’s never gotten the story on what exactly happened between Anne and Styles Senior, but knows it has a lot to do with their son, Harry Styles Junior. Harry is the light of Anne’s life, her only child. He’d been in the gossip pages for years while Luke was growing up, a few years older than Luke and one of the most attractive people Luke has ever seen grace the pages of Entertainment news papers. What threw Styles Junior into the fray of celebrity life was a jealous ex lover releasing a sex tape to the world. Luke’s never told anyone, especially not Anne, but he’d started to figure out his own sexuality when he watched the video and stared at Harry the whole time rather than the girl. Luckily, Anne has never thought to introduce them.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom if you ladies don’t mind.” Luke stands from the table after placing his order with their waitress. Anne waves him off, already focused on a story Grace is telling about some girl she asked out.

Luke walks slowly through the restaurant. It’s beautifully put together, Grace’s friend is talented. The lights are all dimmed and gives it that romantic feel and the atmosphere is calming. Luke finds the bathrooms that are cleaner than most he’s seen in Vegas.

The bathroom is empty, luckily. Luke just wanted a minute with his cards. Grace and Anne give him disapproving looks when he takes them out, saying he focuses more on the cards than them. In the quiet of the bathroom, he starts doing some trick cuts. 

It's just a comfort thing for him. If he doesn't shuffle every so often, he gets an itch under his skin and the cards start to feel heavier in his pocket. And at the bridge club he's too concerned with watching play to ever actually touch a card. Most days, as soon as he gets home from work, he just sits and shuffles for a while to jolt himself back into his skin. It's one of the reasons why he had the job at the Bellagio, he can spend eight hours controlling the cards. Nothing like that for stress relief. 

After a few minutes, an older gentleman comes in the bathroom and eyes Luke warily. Luke decides to go back to the table, maybe the guy won't tell his family about the weird guy shuffling in the bathrooms if he leaves now. He makes his way back to the table and plops down into his chair while Anne and Grace are in the middle of a conversation.

“I think they could be a good match, but it’s really you who has the eyes for these things dear. Go with your gut.” Anne is telling Grace as they eat the first course.

“Oh, Luke, you just missed Hayley.” Grace says, admonishing him a bit. She turns back to Anne. “I think I will. I always set Ashton up with girls who I think will even him out. Maybe he needs someone crazier than him.” Grace ponders, chin resting on her palm.

“Even if it doesn’t work out, they seem like they would be good friends at least.” Anne says, reassuring Grace.

“Should I know who Ashton is?” Luke asks, taking a bite of his soup. It’s delicious of course, worth every penny Luke isn’t paying for it.

Grace smiles like the cheshire cat, all mirth, “You will tomorrow.”

Anne stops her with a smile, “Now Grace, don’t tease him. Luke, you’re aware that my ex husband died?”

Luke does know this, not from Anne, but from the papers. It had to have been six months now, since all the gossip rags had started back in on Harry. They weren’t even focused on the fact the guy had to be mourning, Styles Senior’s death had been unexpected, a car crash. But the papers just used his father’s death as a plot point in the story of the once crazy heir being forced to take over his father’s business.

Luke nods, “Only thing the world could talk about for a week.”

Anne’s face goes grim, “You mean Harry was.” She sighs and Grace reaches out a hand to hold Anne’s. “I just wish they’d leave him alone. He’s the sweetest boy and has never been in any real trouble. They paint him with this terrible picture, he deserves more respect.”

Grace stops Anne, her voice confident. “They will, soon. You know they will.”

Anne smiles gently, in thanks, at Grace before turning back to Luke, “Harry wants to chat with you. You can meet him tomorrow at eleven.” Luke’s about to open his mouth to argue, when Anne holds up a hand to stop him. “None of that. Connie gave you the day off, you can text her if you don’t believe me. And knowing you Luke, you’re going to want to meet him as soon as possible.”

Luke’s mouth is still open, now in shock. Why in the world would Harry Styles want to meet him? “Why?”

Grace pokes his arm. “It’s a surprise. A good one too. Just go Luke, trust us.”

Anne smiles at Luke, “I’ll text you the address. Be there at eleven tomorrow.”

Luke shrugs, “I guess I don’t really have a choice.” Anne and Grace smile before going back to discussing the charm of the restaurant.

 

*****

Luke was expecting an office building. Many of the buildings in Vegas look similar, no matter what they are, but this is definitely an apartment building. Luke looks down to check the address once more, matching it against what he put in his GPS. This is definitely the right place.

Luke had woken up early this morning and eaten a rare breakfast with Mikey. Luke told him all about the mysterious meeting with Harry Styles. Mikey bet it would be a sex thing. Luke really doesn’t think it will be.

Luke had texted Connie, checking to make sure Anne had been telling the truth. Almost immediately he’d gotten the response, **Yep, you’re all set. And Luke, you have my full permission to quit. If you don’t quit, I’ll fire you myself.**

It’s starting to scare Luke, what exactly this could be about. Does Harry Styles want Luke to be his personal Bridge teacher or something? Or maybe he wants Luke to run a tournament series for him in one of his other hotels. But Luke doesn’t want to leave Vegas, he’d probably end up turning that down. Or maybe it is a sex thing, that’d probably make the most sense at this point.

Anne’s text says to use the valet parking and then take the elevator to the top floor using a key that will be waiting at the front desk for him. Luke pulls up to the valet and hands his keys over. All he has on him is his wallet, phone, and a pack of cards. He wasn’t sure how nice to dress for a business meeting, so he’d worn slacks and a sweater over a button up and tie. It’s not as professional as he could look, but it should do for whatever odd meeting he’s about to be put in. If he’s underdressed, he can always apologize and say Anne wasn’t too specific.

He walks up to the front doors of the apartment building but there is a security guard blocking his way. The man has a gruff face and is standing like the guards with the funny hats in London, stoic and expressionless. Luke approaches the doors.

The Security guard turns to him, “Can I help you?”

“Uh,” Luke doesn’t really know what to say. “I’m here to see Harry Styles? His mother sent me? Luke Hemmings?” The security guards face immediately relaxes and his shoulders drop a bit.

“Sorry about that, thought you’d be older. Should’ve expected someone your age though, knowing Harry. Just go to the desk by the elevators and give your name, they’ll help you right out.”

“Thanks.” Luke says. The guard opens the door for him and Luke feels a bit baffled by everything. This is one of the strangest meetings he’s ever experienced and he’s hardly through the door.

The lobby is small, well, not small, but smaller than he expected of such a grand building. There’s two doors to the side with key pads and four elevators. In the center of it all is a young woman at a desk.

“I’m going to guess you’re Luke Hemmings?” She says, smiling a customer service smile at Luke. All Luke does is nod. “Right this way.” She grabs a key and walks over to the elevators, pressing the button to go up.

“Should I wait?” Luke asks. His phone says it’s only 10:45, he doesn’t want to get there too early.

“Nope, they’re expecting you.” The girl says, one of the elevators to her right opening. “If you could step in, Mr. Hemmings.” Luke hates when people call him that, even if she’s just trying to be polite. He walks into the elevator but the girl stays on the outside. She reaches her hand in, putting the key into the slot next to the button that has a P on it. When she turns the key, the button pops out and flashes. She presses it and takes the key out. “Have a nice day sir.” She removes her hand and the doors close.

Luke realizes, when the number on the floor counter reaches three that he has no idea where to go when he gets to the floor. What if there are multiple doors? What if there’s no reception area? There’s got to be a reception area, she wouldn’t have sent him up with no instructions if there wasn’t another person up there to help him.

The elevator climbs and so do the numbers. The elevator dings with a stop when the number turns to a P. Luke takes a deep breath, straightening his sweater and checking one last time that there are no stains on it. The doors open.

It’s a hallway. Not like in a hotel or an office, with doors on either side or people in the midst of a work day. It’s a house hallway. There’s a little table to one side with a picture of Anne on it and a vase of flowers, on the opposite wall there’s a few hooks with jackets and hats on them. He can see a nicely furnished sitting room beyond the hallway. Luke must be in the wrong spot. There’s no way this is where he’s meant to be. He’s about to hit the button to close the doors and go back down to the bottom floor, telling the woman there’s been some mistake, when he hears the sound of a chair screeching.

“He’s here!” Luke hears from somewhere to the right. There’s an archway there, the floor leading further into the apartment is tile. It must be a kitchen.

At that moment, Harry Styles’ head appears in the archway. “Finally, we’ve been waiting for ages.” There’s a smile on his face though, Anne’s green eyes shining back at Luke from someone else’s face. It’s all very strange.

“Sorry, Anne told me 11.” Luke takes the step out of the elevator.

Harry looks amused. “Of course she did, that’s what I told her to say. Ashton’s just been here since 9 and we haven’t had anything to talk about while we were waiting.”

Luke hears a shout from the kitchen. “I resent that! I’m a fantastic conversationalist!”

Harry rolls his eyes, “Sure you are Ash, that’s why we’ve been watching youtube videos of cats dancing for the past hour.”

The voice yells, “You suggested it!”

Harry shrugs his shoulders, “Technicalities.” Harry turns his attention back to Luke. “Now are you a coffee or tea drinker? Mom said she hasn’t seen you drink either, so I have hot chocolate too.”

Luke’s in a bit of a daze as he follows Harry further into the apartment. They’re in a kitchen now. It’s impressively large, Luke can see why Ashton had to shout from his spot across the room. It’s all dark tile and granite, more stainless steal appliances than Luke realized existed. “Uh, whatever you’re having? I don’t have a preference.”

Harry gives him a look, like he’s not sure if he should trust someone without a drink preference, but turns to the stove top anyways. “Hot chocolate it is then.”

Luke suddenly feels very self-conscious. Harry’s wearing a worn out sweatshirt and tight black jeans with a head scarf in his hair to tie back the famous Styles’ curls. The other man, Ashton, who also has an unkempt heap of curls on his head, is wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants. The two look like they're about to have a movie marathon, complete with hot chocolate and marshmallows, rather than a business meeting.

Ashton pats the barstool next to him for Luke to come sit on. “Nice to meet you. Ashton Irwin.” Ashton holds out his hand to Luke and Luke walks the space to shake his hand back.

“Luke Hemmings.” Luke says, taking the offered seat. Harry turns around at that point, pushing a full mug and a bowl of mini marshmallows toward Luke.

“I’m so sorry, that was rude of me. Mom just talks so fondly of you, I feel like we’ve been friends for ages.” Harry extends his arm over the countertop to Luke. “Harry. It’s good to finally meet you Luke.”

“Likewise.” Luke says. Ashton reaches into the bowl of marshmallows, grabbing a handful. He puts a few into his mug before throwing one up and trying to catch it in his mouth. It falls on the countertop and Harry nabs it, with a snicker, before Ashton can. “Not to be blunt, but I don’t know why I’m here.” Luke takes a few of the marshmallows for his hot chocolate. He doesn’t really mind that other people’s hands have been on them. He guesses it might be some kind of a test because both Ashton and Harry watch his hand and then grin conspiratorially at each other after.

“Really?” Harry says, puzzled, turning back to Luke. “That doesn’t sound like mom.”

“I bet Grace put her up to it. You know Anne spoils her.” Ashton says before trying to toss another marshmallow into his mouth. This time he makes it.

“Oh yes, dear Grace. I hear I have you to thank for bringing that menace into my life.” Harry smiles at Luke, the words kind. Luke had always wondered what Grace and Harry’s relationship must be like. Based on his tone, Luke can guess it’s like his and Mikey’s relationship, a strong friendship based on the devotion to the same matronly figure. That’s good to know.

“Well,” Harry says, standing up straight and leaning on the counter behind him, “I can either tell you why you’re here in a very formal, businessy way. Or,” Harry’s eyes light up, “I can tell you a story.”

Ashton looks to Luke with an expression on his face like he just ate something bad. “Don’t choose the story.”

Harry looks offended. “Ash! You love the story!”

Ashton looks to Harry, letting him down easy, “I do, but Luke will be sick of us by the time you finish it.”

Luke pipes in, to stop Harry from giving Ashton sad puppy dog eyes, “I don’t mind hearing the story. I’ve got nothing else to do today.” Harry instantly brightens.

“Good. The story. The story starts at the birth of a handsome young boy,” Ashton throws a marshmallow at Harry, it bounces off his nose. Harry picks it up and pops it in his mouth. “The first few years of the boys life were good, awesome even. But then the boys’ dad was put in charge of a luxury hotel business.” Oh. Luke thought it was going to be a joke story. Well, now it looks like he’ll finally get to know what happened with Anne’s marriage. “It started with the boy’s father never being around and forgetting birthdays. But then came affairs and yelling and the boy’s mom wasn’t happy anymore. She divorced the boy’s father and fled to the magical land of Vegas.” Harry says it with awe in his voice, motioning around the kitchen.

“After a terrible custody battle, full custody was rewarded to the boy’s father. The father was obsessed with the idea of his son being his only heir, saying that one day the boy would have to take over the family business. So the boy got sent to lots of fancy private schools and such. He’d talk to his mother on the phone a lot but he never got to see her because she was in Vegas and the father hated Vegas. So when-”

“I’m sorry. Point of clarification.” Luke raises his hand and Harry turns to him. “Why did the boy’s father hate Vegas?”

Ashton gives Luke a look like he just won the lottery, happy that Luke is playing along with Harry, “This is perfect. Your mother is incredible Harry.” Ashton loops an arm around Luke’s neck in a small hug and lets go.

Harry smiles, “I always trust my mother.” Harry takes a sip of his drink before continuing, “The father hated Vegas because he said they didn’t respect hotels the way his company did. Vegas is all about gimmicks and luring people in with gambling and other sinful stuff. He thought hotels should be a relaxing place to stay, not necessarily a destination point. All our hotels are placed so that people can enjoy a city and easily access information on how to do so while staying in a wonderful room. We don’t do resorts on beaches or spas, that’s not the point of our business-” Harry seems to realize that he’s lost the story and is now going on a tangent. He pauses and Ashton quirks an eyebrow at him. Harry continues with renewed vigor.

“Anyways, when the boy turned eighteen, he was sent to college to learn about hotel management-”

Ashton interrupts with a fist in the air, “Woo! Go red!”

Harry falls against the counter giggling for a second. When he catches his breath, he turns to Luke, “Sorry, we went to Cornell and the mascot is basically the color red so like, yeah.” Harry stumbles over his words trying to explain. Luke quirks up a corner of his mouth, more in awe than laughter. Harry continues.

“So the very handsome boy goes to college and meets an equally handsome  young man.” Ashton raises his hand and salutes at Luke, “They end up being roommates.”

“The good old days.” Ashton looks off into the distance and Harry bumps his fist.

“It turns out the second handsome boys dream has always been to manage a hotel in Vegas. The first boy-”

Ashton cuts Harry off, “The story bit is getting confusing Harry. Just tell him what happened.”

“Fine.” Harry sighs at Ashton before continuing, “So I told Ashton what my father always told me, that Vegas hotels aren’t respectable hotels. They’re just casinos with bedrooms. Ashton gets this brilliant idea that the Styles hotel chain should be the ones to change it, prove that it doesn’t have to be that way.” Harry’s face goes sad and dark then. “My dad laughed at me. I told him when I was home for break one year and he just laughed and then told me he wished he had another son to leave the business too.” Harry leans against the counter, fire in his eyes, as he tells the story. “He said that I better not add any new hotels when it was my turn to run the business and he hoped that my son had better ideas than I did.”

Harry backs up against the counter behind him, wounded, with his arms crossed in front of him. Ashton is staring at him, Luke figures he’s trying to be comforting with his eyes, has already had to comfort Harry because of this for years, but Harry just keeps looking at the floor. “And then the tape thing happened and Dad would hardly speak to me. Said he would’ve disowned me right then if it had been with a boy instead of a girl.” Harry sighs and looks up to meet Luke’s eyes, “He just wasn’t a good dad, you know? Like, if you’re going to be a dad, you should at least try and be a good one. All he ever saw me as was the guy who was going to take over for him when he retired, not his son. Mom was always good to me, I don’t know exactly what was wrong with him.”

They all pause, no one moving, and Luke lets it all sink in. He still doesn’t really know what Harry wants with a floor manager at a bridge club, but he figures there must be more to the story.

“Anyways,” Harry continues, words sitting heavy in the air, “He’s gone and the business is mine. So Ashton and I are going to build our dream.” Ashton smiles at Harry. Luke can see that this is something they really care about. Probably something they used to talk about in their dorm room, staying up late and picking out bed spreads for the different rooms. “My good friend from high school is already helping us with the designs. So we’re doing it.”

Luke interrupts, “Don’t you need approval from a board or something? You can’t just build a hotel.”

Harry grins at that, “Well, the president of the board right now just happens to be my good friend’s father. Unlike my father, Bobby Horan loves his son like crazy and as long as Niall is our architect and desginer, we’re basically guaranteed approval. And it’s not like the company doesn’t have the money, we’re a luxury hotel business. I mean, it’s going to take awhile to be seeing profit with this project but I know we will.”

“I still don’t really see where I fit into this.” Luke says as he takes another sip of his hot chocolate.

“Well,” Ashton explains, “Harry here is an expert on running the money side of hotels. I’m an expert on customer service and making sure everything runs smoothly. We’re the perfect team if we wanted to own a hotel anywhere but Las Vegas.”

Harry leans forward onto the countertop, grinning at Luke, “But we’re in Vegas. You can’t open a hotel in Vegas without a casino, and you can’t open a casino without a cards expert.”

Luke freezes, mug at the midpoint from the table to his mouth. His brain is starting to put together all the pieces but he really needs them to says it. “What exactly are you asking me?”

Harry shrugs, “If you want to be the casino manager for the first Styles Hotel and Casino.”

Luke sets his cup down on the counter. Casino manager? _Casino Manager?_ He’s only thirty for gods sake, how do they expect him to manage a casino?

“I think there’s some mistake here. I work at a bridge club-”

“And apparently you know more about cards than Houdini.” Ashton points out.

“Of course I do, he was an escape artist. But that doesn’t mean I know how to run a casino.” Luke holds his hand up. Why can’t they see that he is wrong for this?

“My mom said you’re degree is in business management. Plus you’ve got experience at the Bellagio.”

“I’m only a dealer! I don’t manage anything there, I only manage the bridge club. We play one game and most of the clientele have dentures. A casino is so much more-” Luke’s voice is tightening and he needs his cards. He pulls them out of his pocket and just starts shuffling, just straight shuffling until he feels like he can breathe again.

“Look,” Luke says, after he’s riffled a few times, “I appreciate the offer but there’s got to be someone better for all this. You don’t want me.”

“Don’t question my mother’s judgement.” Harry is pointing a finger at him, face set in a disapproving manner. “She said you’d be perfect for this so you are, got it? If you don’t want to do this, fine, say that. But don’t insult my mother.”

“Luke,” Luke turns to Ashton while Harry semi glares at him, “We don’t want anyone else. If we bring in someone who knows casinos, they’re going to do the same old thing that everyone else has. The whole point of this is to be new, put a twist on old classics. We want someone who loves cards. Someone who can make the casino about the cards and not the money. Anne says that’s you. What do you say?”

Ashton and Luke are both looking at Luke expectantly, waiting for him to say something. Luke grips onto the cards in his hands. He doesn’t know if this is a good idea. He knows why Connie would want him to take this, it’s basically his dream job, right next to running Bicycle but that will never happen. So this is it. They’re offering him his dream job. And he doesn’t know what to do.

He turns to the cards. He’d opened a new pack this morning so the edges are crisp against his skin. He separates them into the two halves, riffling them into a faro shuffle. He does a trick cut, moving the bottom card to the top, not knowing what it is. Luke can feel Ashton and Harry’s eyes on him, he realizes they probably have no idea what he’s doing.

Luke puts the deck on the table and takes a few deep breaths. He’s just going to let the cards tell him what to do. Whatever that top card is, it’s going to tell him how to handle this.

Luke flips the top card and instantly feels relief. He turns to look at his new business partners. “So where exactly do you need me to start? Should we look at budgets or do you want me to meet with the architect and talk ideas?” Before he even finishes speaking, Ashton has Luke wrapped in a hug and Harry’s letting out a high pitched yelp and coming around to the other side of the counter to join in the hug.

Luke looks over his shoulder as Harry runs into his back. His eyes meet the card lying on the table. The nine of clubs. His good luck charm. It almost feels like the card is winking at him, telling him he made the right decision.

 

**Jack of Diamonds**

Luke is thoroughly fucked. Like really, seriously, so, so fucked. Over the last hour he’s had several of Calum’s body parts in his bum and now he can hardly move. He’s just lying like a starfish on their bed, eyes closed and breathing in wheezes. He’s not sure how he’s still alive. So completely fucked.

Calum, on the other hand, is in control of his faculties and is using that fact to taunt Luke. It’s not in the least bit funny. Calum is tracing patterns on Luke’s chest and abdomen and if Luke isn’t mistaken, it’s the different suits. Calum’s in the middle of tracing a diamond around Luke’s belly button when he laughs.

“Babe, this is hilarious.” Calum presses a kiss to Luke’s collar. “You’re so fucked out.” Luke wants to look him in the eye and say _and whose fault is that?_  but Luke really, really doesn’t want to move. He’s just going to lie here instead while Calum touches him

Luke hears the click of Calum’s camera shutter. He makes a dissatisfied noise, somewhere between a whine and a moan, to show Calum that he did not agree to that.

“Sorry, but you’re going to want to see this when you feel better.”

Feel better? Luke feels fucking fantastic right now. Yeah, there’s the whole not being able to move and so tired he’s about to fall asleep even though they’ve only been up a few hours. But god does he feel good, all the stress of the week washed away. Calum is magic.

Luke manages to open his eyes and searches for Calum’s face. Calum’s hovering on his left, face mid laugh, and all Luke can do is weakly glare at him and flop his arm around Calum’s hip. Calum just looks down at Luke and smiles.

“Finally coming round?” Calum pats Luke’s cheek and then slides the hand down Luke’s body to his ribcage, leaning in so his lips are right above Luke’s, just touching. “Happy two years Lukey.” Calum leans down all the way to kiss him at that.

If Luke could think more clearly, he would push Calum back to speak. Instead, he just doesn’t kiss him back, lazily turning his head to the side, “Two years, two months, and three days.” He says softly and Calum just chuckles, kissing him again. This time, Luke participates, even dragging his arm up to Calum’s shoulders.

It’s been a bit of a battle between Luke and Calum, the day of their anniversary. Luke says it should be the day they met, everything was muddled for awhile after they met but that very first day was the start of something. Calum says it should be the day they finally had the conversation, finally said they were actually together. It’s worked out nicely though, having two anniversaries. For the first one, Luke always puts something together and for the second Calum takes charge. They get the days off, all of their friends and co workers know the deal by now and schedule around it. It’s an excuse to take off twice as many days every year.  

Calum had even managed for their second one year anniversary to surprise Luke with three days off, having Liam help him out with it. They’d driven up to Luke’s hometown so that Calum could finally meet Gladdie. And Luke’s parents of course, but Gladdie had seemed more important. Gladdie had liked Calum, raved about him on the phone to Luke the day after he left. With Gladdie’s blessing, Luke finally had everything he wanted out of his relationship with Calum.

Calum settles down onto Luke’s chest, head on Luke’s heart and hand still rubbing up and down Luke’s sides, calming him. Luke just loves Calum. So much some times. But he never feels like he’s telling Calum properly. Calum’s good with the gestures and anniversaries. Luke just hopes Calum doesn’t get tired of him saying the same three words over and over again but meaning them more and more each time.

“How’s work?” Calum asks when Luke’s breath finally steadies. The summers are always busy for them. Calum, as the Assistant Director of Groups and Conferences for the past year and a bit, has been having to get up earlier and earlier to help with check ins and outs while Luke has been having to stay in the casino until the early hours of the mornings. Luke hates coming to bed and seeing Calum already asleep but hates it even more when he gets up and Calum’s not there. They try to eat at least one meal together every day but they never really have time to talk then. The only times they really get to talk anymore are their days off.

“S’good.” Luke mumbles, tangling his hand in Calum’s hair, “We think we’re going to ask Zayn to be Liam’s replacement.” Liam had decided he wanted to bring his daughter up closer to the rest of his family. Luke understands, but it still hurts to think that Liam will be gone by Christmas, his deadline for settling down back home. They figure they’ll approach Zayn in a few weeks and then have him work along side Liam for a month. If Zayn says yes.

“I like Zayn. He’ll be good for it.” Calum’s huge lips barely graze Luke’s chest as he speaks. Luke has always loved Calum’s lips.

“I think so too. I already miss Li though.” Calum continues petting Luke’s chest, now trying to comfort Luke. It’s been a hard thing, trying to face Liam leaving, the first of their little working friend group to leave. Of course more people will leave, they’ll have too. But the first one is hard. The hotel is doing so well, it’s hard to see someone go at it’s peak. “How’s Lou doing?”

Calum turns his face into Luke’s chest and says, “How do you think?”

“That good?”

Louis Tomlinson, a quick witted, sharp tongued charmer, and Calum’s new boss, has quite the reputation in the hotel world. He’s managed some of the top hotels in London. Harry and Ashton are still in shock that Louis even took the job, let alone asked for it. It's been three months since Louis replaced their interim Director of Groups and Conferences. Luke, after spending a decent amount of time with Louis because of Calum, has figured the move has less to do with Louis ‘being interested in the new Styles project’ and more with Louis being interested in a Styles.

“He kind of is though.” Calum says, “Way better than Margaret was. Besides, Louis’ just more fun to work with.” This new arrangement seems to be working well, except for one thing.

Calum continues, “Harry’s still a bit...odd around him.”

Luke laughs. “I wonder why.” Every time Harry walks into Louis’ and Calum’s office, Harry turns into a lovesick puppy. Louis’ no better. He keeps up a smart facade, all smirks and bravado, but Luke can see through the smiles Louis tries to hold back.

Calum chuckles too, “I wonder when they’re going to get together.”

Luke stills a bit at that. “You know how Harry is.”

Calum lifts his head to look at Luke, “Will he still not go in the casino?”

“I don’t blame him.” Luke says, maybe a bit too harshly.

“Come on, we said we weren’t going to take sides.”

Luke sighs, “I’m not taking sides. I just can’t forget the way Harry looked that day, alright?”

Calum stills, the memory still fresh in their heads. It’d been around the time of their first two year anniversary back in June. Calum and Luke had just come back from grocery shopping and their door had been slightly ajar. They’d found Harry on the couch wrapped in one of their blankets, eyes blank. With the least emotion Luke has ever heard Harry use, Harry had looked up at them, sighed, and murmured, “Jim left.” Luke had wrapped him in a hug. After sixteen months of a seemingly happy arrangement, Jim had decided he was done. At first, Luke couldn’t even look at Jim. He still doesn’t understand why Jim hasn’t left the hotel for good, he's still Luke's secretary.

“I’m not fighting with you about our friends failed relationship on our two year anniversary Luke, ok?” Calum is hovering over Luke now, looking down into Luke’s face. “So are you going to kiss me or what?”

Luke meets Calum’s eyes, “Two years, two months and three days.” Luke smirks.

Calum smiles at Luke, putting his weight onto one hand and resting the other on Luke’s cheek. He looks like he’s going to say something sappy, but he surprises Luke, “You’re such a little shit.”

“Oh yeah?” Luke says, right before tickling Calum.

An hour, that consists of a tickle fight, shower, and ordering room service, later, Calum and Luke are sitting on their couch watching an old Will Ferrell movie. Luke’s lying back against one of the arm rests, legs bent up with Calum lying back on Luke’s stomach. Luke is quite comfortable, Calum’s hands on his thighs and head on his chest.

“How long do you think we’ll stay?” Luke asks out of the blue. His mind had wandered to Liam leaving.

“Hmm?” Calum looks back at Luke. Luke’s arms are under Calum’s shoulders, flat on his stomach. They’d put on boxers and T-shirts but Luke’s hands have slid underneath Calum’s shirt to rest against the warm skin.

“At the hotel. How long do you think we’ll stay before we leave like Liam?” Luke asks, tilting his head to get a better angle to see Calum’s face.

Calum stills a bit. “We?”

Luke nods, they’ve had this conversation before. Maybe not recently and maybe not specifics, but Calum should know by now that Luke wants to spend the rest of his life with him. “Well, yeah. I’m not leaving without you. And I wouldn’t let you leave without me.” Luke shrugs, this is all old news for him but for Calum it looks like he’s just realizing something for the first time.

“I-” Calum stops himself for a second, but continues, “I’m here as long as you are.”

Luke ponders that. “Ok. But is Harry’s kid going to have to kick us out when we’re ninety? Or are we going to buy a beach house when we’re forty and never work again?”

Calum grins, “We’re not going to make enough by the time we’re forty to never work again.”

Luke nods, “So should that be the rule then? As soon as we’ve saved enough to live comfortably in our beach house, we’ll leave.”

Calum just smiles at Luke, one of the biggest smiles Luke has ever seen. This is why Luke is worried that Calum doesn’t realize just how much Luke loves him. Calum’s face looks like he can’t believe Luke is planning this far ahead but Luke could’ve easily had this conversation at any point in time over the past year and he would’ve felt the same.

“Cal,” Luke brings one hand up under Calum’s shirt to rest over the nine of clubs tattoo, “you know I really love you, right? Like, I would turn down Leonardo Dicaprio in his prime for you. I am very good friends with one of the men who helped me figure out my sexuality and I can’t even think of him that way anymore because I can’t imagine being with anyone but you for the rest of my life. You do know that, right? I love you. In the forever way.”

Calum’s smiling so wide Luke can barely see his eyes through the crinkles of skin. Calum adjusts his body and Luke thinks he’s going to get a kiss but then Calum gets up and walks away.

“Ouch!” Luke calls after him.

“Just wait a second, ok?” Calum’s voice calls from the kitchen. Luke crosses his arms and waits, sitting up more on the couch. He’s kind of upset he didn’t get a kiss from smiley Calum.

Calum comes back with a deck of cards, still in their box, in his hand, smile still on his face. “I was going to give you this after dinner, but...Happy two year anniversary Lukey.” Calum sits down on the couch, close to Luke.

Luke smiles up at Calum, “Two years, two months, three days you mean.”

Calum just shakes his head, “Whatever you want babe.”

Luke looks down at the deck of cards. He had gotten Calum silver cufflinks in the shape of his initials, saying that ‘once you need to wear cufflinks on the job then you know you’ve made it.’ Calum had worn them almost every day since. But Calum’s much better at gifts than Luke, so Luke isn’t surprised it’s a new deck of cards. It’s always the perfect gift. “Thanks Cal.” It’s one of the blue Bicycle decks, Luke’s favorite.

Calum is getting impatient next to Luke. “You have to open it.”

Luke looks down at the cards, seeing the ripped sticker at the top, obviously already opened. “Oh.”

Calum looks at Luke in disbelief, “Did you really think for our two year-”

“Two year, two-” Luke tries to correct him but Calum continues.

“Two year anniversary, I would’ve gotten you just a deck of cards?”

Luke shrugs, “Why not? You know how I keep decks. I could’ve made some memories with it and kept it. It would’ve been the second two year anniversary deck. I’ve got the first two year anniversary deck in the office. They could’ve been friends.” Luke smiles but Calum just looks exasperated.

“Just open the deck? Please?” Calum moves closer to Luke on the couch.

Luke flips the top open and pulls the cards out. He can immediately tell something doesn’t feel right. The weight of the cards is off. “What did you do?”

Calum grins but with a nervous edge, “Just flip through the cards. Start on the bottom.”

Luke turns the deck over and now he knows something is wrong. It’s the ace of hearts. It shouldn’t be the ace of hearts. He sends Calum a pout. “Calum.”

“Come on Lukey.”

Luke flips the ace to the back of the deck and nearly falls over, “Calum!”

“What?”

“What did you do?” Luke is holding the deck up to Calum. The word _Will_ is written across the two of hearts. “You ruined the deck.”

Calum looks puzzled, “You have people write on decks all the time.”

Luke rolls his eyes, “That’s for sleights.” Obviously. Then Luke takes a second, “Wait, did you learn how to manipulate cards? Is that my present?”

Calum puts his head in his hand. “Luke, please, just keep turning the cards.”

Luke, still a little mad, turns back to the cards and away from Calum as much as he can. He flips to the next card, _you_ is printed on this one. Luke tries not to cringe to much.

Luke turns to the next card and freezes. _marry_. It says marry on it in Calum’s big goofy hand writing. _Will you marry_ , that’s what the cards have spelled out so far.

Luke’s voice is low and quiet when he speaks, “Calum.”

“Just keep going,” Luke can hear Calum’s smile through his words. Calum’s hand is on Luke’s back, thumb right over Luke’s spine.

The next card is exactly what Luke expected, the five of hearts with Calum’s writing of the word _me?_ right on top of the middle heart. The card is upside down too, but that doesn’t really matter in the scheme of things.

Luke is nodding his head slowly. Luke doesn’t cry, ever really. But he gets moments when he’s so overwhelmed with emotions that he feels a burn in his eyes and throat and his heart clenches. It’s how he feels now.

“One more card Lukey.” Calum whispers next to him, so Luke turns it.

If it had been any other card on top, than Luke probably wouldn’t have over reacted. But when he flips the five, he sees the nine of clubs, his card, his lucky charm, his Calum card, with a whole cut out at the center. It’s like the very soul of the card is gone and he feels the breath rush out of him.

“What did you do?” the words are intense and harsh on his tongue. Calum tenses next to him.

“Babe?”

“You can’t just...why this card Cal? You can’t ruin the nine of clubs like that.” Luke is running his fingers over the hole in the middle of the card, along the cut sides. The card looks so sad without it’s center.

“You always say it’s me.” Calum mumbles next to Luke, hand smoothing up and down Luke’s back. Luke can tell Calum’s confused by Luke’s reaction. Well, Luke is confused why Calum would do this to such a precious card.

“It is you Calum.” Luke turns to look at Calum. Calum’s pouting and Luke just looks at him expectantly, reaching out to touch on Calum’s chest where he knows a complete nine of clubs is and always will be. “Do you get that? You can’t destroy you and expect me to be ok with that.”

“Look in the hole Luke.” Calum says it like he thinks Luke is an idiot, with a small, nervous smile peeking out at the corners of his mouth. Luke doesn’t really want to look again, but he does.

The hole is about twelve cards deep, the lines straight and neat, probably done one by one with an exact-o knife. Luke looks in the hole and sees...a ring?

That’s when Luke remembers he’s getting proposed to. He drops his jaw and turns to look at Calum.

“I’m...Oh god.” Luke drops his head in the hand that isn’t holding the deck. “That was so embarrassing.”

Calum chuckles and puts his arm around Luke’s shoulder. “It was cute.” He smacks a kiss on Luke’s cheek where he can reach it.

Luke turns back to Calum and tucks his head into Calum’s neck, hiding his face behind Calum’s jaw. “We can never tell anyone the story of how we got engaged now.”

Calum huffs, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m telling everyone.” Luke just smiles into Calum’s chest, still holding the deck carefully in his right hand.

“So that was a yes, right? I couldn’t tell through all the whining.” Calum says with a smile against Luke’s forehead.

“Shut up.” Luke buries his face even more into Calum’s warm chest. He holds up the deck in his hand to Calum and holds out his left hand, “Put it on me.”

Calum’s hand reaches up to pluck the ring from the deck. Calum brings the ring up to look at it more closely before turning it over and slipping it on Luke’s ring finger. It’s the first time that Luke’s really gotten a good look at it so he brings his hand close to his face.

“Do you like it?” Calum asks, the words vibrating against Luke’s cheek.

The ring is perfect. It’s silver with a ribbed part at the top and bottom. The center part of the ring has tiny cut outs of the different suits. There’s a small clubs cut out, then a small diamond, small heart, and last a small spade, all the way around in a pattern. It’s the perfect ring.

“I love it.” Luke turns so his legs are over Calum’s lap. Calum runs his hand over Luke’s bare legs.

“I got two made so we can match.” Calum whispers. Luke tilts his head up and drags Calum, his fiancee, down into a long, slow kiss.

*****

Harry texts the next day. It’s Tuesday, Luke’s day off but Calum is working downstairs, welcoming a four day sorority conference and setting them up in all their meeting rooms. Calum’s good at his job, Luke’s seen him welcome guests and show them around. He’s quiet and subdued, reassuring almost. The opposite of Louis’ loud greetings and big smiles. They make a good time, and Luke’ sure the sorority girls will love them.

The text comes in mid morning, right when Luke is rearranging all his old decks and tossing out all the ones that he no longer remembers exactly what they’re from. It’s a pretty daunting task considering he’s got a few hundred and the majority of them are blue Bicycle decks. His phone ringer is on high so that when Calum texts for his lunch break, Luke is ready to go.

Luke grabs his phone when it chirps, knowing it’s not Calum because Calum is probably dressed in a greek letter sweater and listening about the joys of sisterhood somewhere. The little bubble on the front says Harry’s name with a simple _you busy now_?

Luke doesn’t text back, knows Harry is in his apartment. On his way out the door, he grabs the card from the key bowl that has the little green star sticker on the corner, Harry’s. He walks the twenty steps down the hall and around the corner to get to Harry’s door. It’s locked, but Luke lets himself in.

“Harry?” Luke calls into the quiet space.

“Kitchen.” Harry’s deep voice calls from left of the door. Luke can hear the sounds of baking which is never a good thing with Harry.

Luke walks through the doorway to the kitchen and is met with the sight of the owner of the world’s most successful luxury hotel brand with his hair tied back in a tight ponytail, wearing a sweat shirt and boxer shorts. It’d be a funny sight if Luke didn’t realize how distressing it really was.

“Do you guys prefer chocolate chip or sugar cookies?” Harry asks over the sound of the mixer whirring in it’s bowl.

“Whatever you’re making.” Luke nods to the mixer and the greased sheets.

“These are for Hayley. Oatmeal raisin. The next batch is for you, so what do you want?” Harry wipes his eyes quickly and scratches his nose, waiting for Luke to answer.

“What happened?” Luke says simply as he sits down on a bar stool.

Harry sighs, covering his eyes. “Let me get some tea first.” Luke watches Harry slowly prepare two cups of tea. He’s halfway through pouring the second one when he starts talking.

“Louis asked me out yesterday,” Harry pauses to pass Luke a cup and takes a sip of his own, “I went down to help him, since Calum had the day off. We got drinks afterward and he asked if he could take me out on a proper date.”

Luke furrows his eyebrows, “Isn’t that a good thing? You guys have been dancing around each other for months.”

Harry stares down at his tea. “You know that’s one of the reasons Jim left, right?” Harry looks up at Luke, a sad laugh escaping his lips before he speaks again. “He said he could tell he was holding me back, something like that.” Harry raises a hand to make air quotes, “Knew I was ‘more interested in Louis than I’d ever be in him.’”

Luke shrugs, “Maybe he was right. I mean, even when you and Jim were still together, we all saw how you were with Lou.” A guilty expression takes over Harry’s face. “It’s not bad Harry. You never cheated on Jim. You just...” Luke struggles to find the words to describe how shy and unsure Harry looks whenever Louis walks into the room. It’s the first time that Luke has seen Harry like this, nervous about someone else. “You just liked someone more.”

“I just thought he was it. Jim.” Harry’s words are quiet in the room but loud in Luke’s heart. He knows that feeling, the feeling of looking at someone and seeing the rest of your life there. But he never saw that between Harry and Jim. Harry and Louis...that could be a different story.

Luke doesn’t know what the right words at this moment are, so he just lets Harry continue, getting up to go around the kitchen island and stand next to Harry.

“It’s just...I’m so old Luke.” Harry sighs, not meeting Luke’s eyes. “I’m closer to forty than thirty and...being with Jim just felt like I was done. I didn’t have to be one of those greying bachelors because I had him.”

“That’s not really a good reason to stay with someone.” Luke says quietly, resting his head against Harry’s shoulder.

“It wasn’t the only reason.” Harry says sadly, mourning the lost relationship. “We had fun together. He was nice to me, maybe a bit quiet but I didn’t mind. It was comfortable.” Harry shrugs.

The apartment is so still around them. Luke likes to keep the TV on when he’s home or have the windows open to let in the gentle murmur of traffic. And Harry usually keeps his radio playing soft jazz or old rock stations. He must not have turned it on in his baking rush. The only noises are their breaths, words, and the rustle of clothing.

Harry breaks the silence that’s fallen, “I honestly thought Jim and I would last. It was good. We were good. And just the thought of…” Harry swallows, poking the bowl with his cookie batter, “The thought that I’m just going to keep doing this, getting in and out of relationships. I don’t want that Luke.” Luke pulls back a bit, watching Harry’s face. Harry’s voice is exasperated, a slight edge of anger to it, “I want to be done. What if I say yes to Louis now, and in another year I’m picking up the pieces again? I’m sick of it. No one ever wants to stay. I’m like Vegas. Good for a week but no one ever stays.”

Luke stands behind Harry and wraps his arms around his waist, hanging on tight, trying to squeeze all of Harry’s pieces back together. Luke can’t imagine the feeling. The world assume it’s Harry’s choice, being in and out of relaitonships. Jim had been the longest, most only lasting a few months. But Luke’s seen Harry pull himself together to many times to count. Harry's made for that unbelievable, overwhelming love and he just hasn't found it yet.

Harry pulls out of Luke’s arms. He wipes under his eyes and sniffs in before turning back to the batter. “I’m fine. I’m good now. I just...I’m fine.”

Luke reaches a hand forward and grasps Harry’s bicep. “Harry...”

Harry turns, small sad smile on his face, “I’m fine Luke, really. This isn’t the first time someone has left me.” He waves his hand in the air, voice cavalier like it’s no big deal. Luke knows it’s a very big deal.

“Harry,” Luke turns so he can lean against the counter and watch as Harry adds more ingredients to his cookies. “you can’t just stop trying.”

Harry shrugs, “Sure I could.”

“Yeah,” Luke smirks a bit, elbowing Harry in the side, “but then you’d break Louis’ heart.”

Harry looks up at him, eyes wide. His mouth opens as if to say something but he doesn’t have any words. A small smile, a real one, hits his face.

Luke’s not the type to bet when he knows he won’t win. Years of playing and dealing have taught him that sometimes the best move is a fold. But when you’re sitting with pocket aces and a third ace flops, you don’t fold just because last hand you lost to a straight. Unfortunately, Luke lacks the eloquence to say this without using cards as a metaphor and Harry, the owner of a casino, still doesn’t understand how poker works.

Luke settles on, “Give him a chance H. This time might be different.” Luke jumps up onto the counter next to where Harry is baking, grabbing his tea.

Harry chuckles, “Sometimes I wish I could’ve fallen for you, or Ash or something. One of those people who when they meet me adored me. Like I was some pop star or something.”

“You put me in that category?” Luke smiles over at Harry.

Harry grins and looks back at him, “If I’d asked you to jump that first day, you would’ve said how high. Ash was even worse, wouldn’t make a noise in our room when we were first moved in. He had some sort of weird idol worship thing going on.”

“Probably thought if he prayed to you, the Gods of hotel management would look kindly on him.”

Harry smirks, “Looks like it worked.” Luke’s just glad he’s ok. Harry reaches for one of his cookie sheets, “Now, distract me while I bake. Have you approached Zayn about Liam’s position yet?”

“Are you really going to make me talk work on my day off?” Luke reaches forward for one of the spoons with batter on it. He’s not partial to raisins but he can make an exception for uncooked batter.

Harry gives him a baffled look, “Yes. When do you not want to talk about work?”

Luke shrugs, “No, we haven’t. We thought we’d wait until September, for things to cool down. If he accepts, we figure we can transition him fully by Thanksgiving and Liam will be settled in some cozy Massachusetts cottage by Christmas.”

Harry shakes his head, “I can’t tell if Li is going to hate snow or love it.”

Luke grins, “Are you kidding me? He’s going to be like a puppy, bouncing around in it. Besides, he grew up with white winters. He told me it doesn’t feel like Christmas here without the snow.”

“I’m glad he’s going back. He was too good for this whole thing anyways.” Harry motions around the room with one hand while he sticks a tray in the oven with the other.

“The hotel?” Luke asks, not exactly sure what Harry is referring to.

“Vegas. The Liam Paynes of the world are not meant for the likes of this town.” Harry holds up a bag of chocolate chips and a bag of sugar to Luke. Luke points at the chocolate chips.

“And the Harry Styles of the world are?” Luke asks.

Harry pauses, hand reaching for the flour bag, “If by the Harry Styles you mean the people who see a niche market and exploit that market for millions of dollars, then yes, the Harry Styles of the world do belong here.”

Harry continues speaking as he searches through a cabinet for some bizarre device that Luke will never understand the purpose of, “And the Luke Hemmings of the world, the people who are dangerously obsessed with something and somehow turn it into a trade, they are perfect for Las Vegas!” Harry starts pouring different ingredients in the bowl while making sweeping hand motions. “And the Ashton Irwins, Hayley Williams, being so good at a skill while also being fantastic at kissing ass, they fit like puzzle pieces in Vegas! And the Calum Hoods who-” Harry stops himself short, puzzled look on his face, “Why did Calum come to Vegas?”

Luke snickers, “You’ve never heard the story?” Harry’s full attention is on Luke then, waiting. “He’s from the Seattle area originally, don’t know if you knew that. When he was eighteen he left town, started waiting tables and bartending wherever people would take him. He spent a few years in Oregon, went down to Texas for awhile, Colorado. He wanted to travel but didn’t have the money so he just moved whenever he got bored. He’s lived in small towns all over the western states.” Luke smiles as he tells the story. It’s just so Calum to him, going everywhere and meeting people, making friends. There’s people all over the country who love Calum, yet Calum chooses to stay in Vegas, somewhere he never thought he’d end up. Luke takes a sip of his tea before he speaks again. “The way he tells the story is that he was watching TV one day and some magic special came on that showed Vegas. He’d never tried living in a big city, too expensive, but he figured he could get a job as a magician’s assistant,” Harry laughs, just like Luke did when he heard the story the first time. “He didn’t realize how much experience you needed for that. So obviously he didn’t get any of those jobs he applied for. Apparently, he was running down to the last bit of the money he had saved up, and he saw our ad asking for dealers so he figured he might as well try for it. You know everything after that.”

Luke looks up to meet Harry’s eyes. Harry’s scooping the dough into little balls to put on the baking tray. He adopts an announcers voice as he positions the dough on the tray, “Little did he know that he would seduce his manager and be set for life.”

Luke makes a disgruntled face at Harry, “You don’t pay me that much.”

Harry grins over at Luke at that, “I never asked. How was your anniversary?”

Luke looks down at his teacup, not exactly wanting to look Harry in the eye. “It wasn’t our anniversary.”

Harry bumps his thigh with his hip, “You know what I mean.”

“Good.” Luke shrugs. He can feel the ring digging into his finger but he’s not sure if he wants to tell Harry just now, after the whole conversation that had brought Luke here in the first place.

“Good?” Harry furrows his brow as he speaks, “No details? You always have good details.”

“Not really much I can tell you.” Luke shrugs again. It’s probably the second shrug that gives him away.

Harry scrutinizes Luke, staring into his eyes for a few beats before glancing down at Luke’s left hand. The second he sees the ring, his eyes light up, “You absolute asshole.”

Luke grins but feigns ignorance, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Harry grabs Luke’s left hand, wanting to look closer at the engagement ring, “You were going to let me just drone on and on and not tell me that you got engaged!” Harry drops Luke’s hand and crowds him for a hug. Luke’s still sitting on the counter so it ends up being more of a circle of patting arms than a hug. “Congratulations! Why didn’t you say anything? You’ve got to be over the moon.”

“It didn’t seem right. We haven’t really talked about telling anyone yet and I didn’t want to say anything before we figured that out.” It’s not the full truth. They’d joked about the most bizarre ways to tell people. Luke assumes the plan is wait for people to notice.

Harry chuckles, pulling back at the sound of the oven timer. “I won’t tell anyone, but you might want to take off the ring then.”

Luke holds his hand close to his chest and, only partially in jest, whines. “No.”

Harry puts the cookies in the oven, flicking the timer and putting his full attention back on Luke. “I can’t believe he finally did it.”

Luke’s eyebrows furrow now, “Did what?”

Harry hoists himself up on the counter next to Luke, taking a sip of his tea and answers like he’s gossiping, “He’s had the rings for months, just been waiting for the right time. I thought he was going to do it on your last anniversary to be honest.” Harry grimaces for a second, “Should I not have told you that?”

Luke looks down at his finger. The little suits are clear even from a distance. The slim silver band makes his whole hand look completely different, the delicate ring making Luke’s hand somehow more elegant. Luke can’t believe Calum’s had it for months. A part of him wonders what exactly held Calum back. Calum could have proposed on this day two years ago and Luke probably would have said yes. But at the same time, Luke’s glad that this wasn’t a new idea of Calum’s, that Calum has been thinking about this and is sure about the proposal.  

“No, it’s good you told me.” Luke rubs the underside of the ring with his thumb, a nervous action he’s already started doing far too much in the past day.

“So, how’d he do it?” Harry elbows Luke. Luke grins.

“I almost ruined it.”

“What did you do?” Harry gives Luke a knowing smile. Right when Luke’s about to launch into a version of the story that paints him in a less embarrassing light, his phone starts to ring. It’s Calum.

“Do you mind?” Luke gives Harry an apologetic look and holds up the phone so Harry can see the picture of Calum from their Christmas party the year before.

Harry shrugs, “I’ve got cookies to make anyways.”

Luke answers the phone, “Hey babe.”

“Hey, how fast can you get down here?” Calum sounds happy, a challenge in his voice.

Luke frowns, “Uh, the amount of time the elevator takes? What’s up?”

“There are a few special guests here who wanted to see you.” Luke can hear the transfer of the phone from Calum’s hand to another person’s.

“Luke? You there?” Grace.

“Yeah, it’s me. Hi Grace. How’ve you been?” Luke hasn’t seen Grace since her 35th birthday party and she’s almost 36 now.

“Not bad. But hey, come down and chat! Anne and I are supposed to meet Harry for lunch in a bit so we’re just hanging out with your Calum.”

“Hang on a sec Grace,” Luke covers the ear piece with his palm and looks to Harry, “Did you know that you’re having lunch with your mom and Grace today?”

Harry puts on his thinking face for a few seconds before pursing his lips, “I thought that was next week?”

Luke chuckles at him before turning back to the phone, “Grace?”

“It’s me,” Calum’s voice is so deep compared to Grace’s soprano that it shocks Luke a bit. His voice just feels like home to Luke, an instant comfort.

“Oh, hi. So I’m at Harry’s and he is in no position to go out to lunch-”

“Everything ok?” Calum asks over the phone. Luke glances at Harry before replying.

“Yeah. I think. But why don’t you all come up here for lunch, Harry’s making cookies, so just grab a few pizzas from the caf and we’ll be here.” Luke thinks for a second before continuing. “Actually, see if you can find Hayley and Ash too. Maybe Li? Just...we can do an informal announcement, tell them all together.”

There’s a pause on the other end. Luke can see Harry’s excited smile as he starts cleaning up his baking mess. And Luke can hear Calum’s shy grin through the phone, “Yeah?”

“Yeah, seems fair right?” Luke runs a hand down the back of his neck, suddenly a bit nervous. “Harry knows, by the way.”

“That’s fine. I’ll see who I can find. Give me half an hour?”

“Sure, bye Cal.”

“Bye babe.” Luke hangs up the phone and says a little thank you to the universe for giving him Calum Hood. Luke has no idea what exactly happened that made him deserve a Calum Hood but he is so unbelievably grateful for it.

“So,” Harry looks up from where he’s putting away some of the ingredients, “I have less than an hour to make this kitchen and myself engagement party ready? Is that what’s happening?”

“He said half an hour,” Luke grins at him, jumping down from the counter. He starts gathering the dirty bowls, trying to help Harry with clean up.

“Stop,” Harry takes the bowls from him, stern look on his face, “It’s my mess.” Harry gets a slightly sad look in his eyes. “Besides, I think there’s someone else you need to call before you tell the world.” Harry grips Luke’s elbow with a reassuring smile. Oh. Yes. He probably should do that.

“You don’t mind?” Luke hesitates, standing in the kitchen while Harry turns on the tap, throwing bowls into the sink.

“No, go. I’ll call you when they get here.” Harry shoos Luke out of the kitchen with the flick of his wrist.

Luke turns and leaves the kitchen. He runs up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and heads to Harry’s second bedroom. It’s furnished much like most of the rooms in the hotel, more because Harry designed them both rather than the fact he was copying. Luke sits on the beige carpet and leans up against the bed, looking out over the city as he finds Mikey’s name under his favorites.

Mikey had moved back home a few months ago. It was only temporary, he expected to be back in Vegas by Halloween. Mikey had confided in Luke before he left that he felt like he needed to do it, wanting to help Gladdie around the house. Mikey was staying in Gladdie’s old pink guest room and the pictures he’d sent Luke were hilarious. Mikey was keeping up with his composing business but the main thing on his mind was his grandmother. More than once a day, Luke wished he could do the same thing.

Luke doesn’t like to think about Gladdie’s illness. He’s not like Michael, who read up everything he could to be better informed on what to expect. Luke thinks about it generally. Gladdie is sick. It’s easier that way, because the sickest he’s ever been is the flu and he recovered. So Gladdie is just sick, with the proper care and rest, eventually she’ll get better. No matter what Mikey tells Luke, Luke just wants to pretend she’ll get better.

The phone rings three times before anyone picks up. Luke must’ve called during a good time because Mikey’s voice is mid laugh when he picks up, “Hello?”

“Mikey?” Luke asks, a bit nervous now.

“Hey Luke, what’s up?”

“What, I’m not allowed to just call a good friend? There’s got to be a reason now?” Luke stretches out his legs, fingers tapping a pattern against his knee.

Mikey pauses, “Uh, no? I was just asking what you were up to and now I’m suspicious. Is there a reason?”

Luke silent curses himself, “Yeah actually, is Gladdie there?”

“Yeah, I’ll hand her the phone-”

“No! I mean, just put it on speaker. Please?” Luke asks as nicely as he can.

“Ok, here she is.” Mikey’s voice gets weaker and now Luke can hear the soft hum of the TV in the background. “Gram, Luke’s on the phone.”

“Oh, give it here.” Luke can picture Gladdie holding a stern hand out at Mikey, pointedly looking at the phone. Luke hears the murmur in the back fade away so it’s just their voices.

“He’s on speaker. He wants to talk to both of us.”

Luke butts in, “Hi Gladys!”

Luke can hear Gladdie’s scowl when she speaks, “Luke, you stop that. It’s not nice to mock and old lady.”

Luke can't help but grin, “You’re not old Gladdie.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Gladdie huffs, “no one's nice to the old lady.” Mikey snickers in the background at that. “To what do we owe this call?”

Luke looks down at his left hand, “I have some news.”

“What?” Mikey asks.

“Well, Calum proposed yesterday-” Luke stops there waiting for a reaction. The two speak at the same time.

“Congratulations-” Mikey is cut off by his grandmother.

“Did you say yes?” Gladdie says, voice a little gruff and a question hiding.

Luke almost sputters, “Of course I said yes! It’s Calum.”

“Hhmmm, I would’ve said no once if I were you. Make him sweat it out.”  Gladdie says and Mikey stops her before she can say anymore.

“Gram, you and gramps got engaged after you’d known each other for like, two weeks and you got married a month later.”

“Exactly, I’m speaking from experience here!” Luke hears a thumping noise and assumes Gladdie just hit Mikey with a rolled up newspaper. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Well I said yes and I’ve never been happier.” He exaggerates his words, adding a bit of a joke in.

Mikey speaks next, “Happier than that time you dealt for...oh god, what was his name? The guy who came in during your shift and you drooled over him?”

That had been a good day, dealing to the third ranked poker player worldwide, “I didn’t drool. Why do you always think I drool? And yes, I’m much happier than then even.” This time the words feel true.

There’s a pause on the other end. It’s Gladdie who speaks next, “So, when’s the wedding?”

“We haven’t really gotten that far yet. We still haven’t really decided how we’re going to tell everyone, let alone the day.” Luke runs a hand through his hair. He and Calum have so much to discuss. They probably should’ve talked more yesterday but they were too high off the feeling of being engaged to actually go into what that meant.

“Well, If I’m not busy, I’ll try to make it.” Gladdie says. Luke stills at that. He hadn’t even thought about Gladdie coming to the wedding. It had always been apart of the vision obviously, but now there are limitations. Mikey covers the pause it takes for Luke to breathe.

“You’ve got to be invited first Gram.”

“I’m invited. Luke might even ask me to be a bridesmaid.”

Luke chuckles, “You’d have to be the maid of honor Glad, nothing less for you.”

“See?” Luke can tell she’s probably prodding Mikey with her newspaper now.

“Would you really come? If we had it here in Vegas?” Luke asks, insecurity in his voice.

“Of course. I haven’t been to Vegas in years. It’ll give me an excuse to go back to my old haunts.”

“Yeah Gram, I’ll wheel you around town to all your old favorite bars.” Mikey says it with a smile in his voice.

“Michael Clifford! Who taught you to sass like that! You watch your tongue around your poor grandmother.” Luke just smiles instead of telling Gladdie that every bit of Michael’s sass came from her careful moulding over the years. Luke doesn’t know how they live together, there can’t be one serious word between them.

The conversation flows from that point on, Luke losing track of the time. Luke asks what Mikey and Gladdie have been up to, a lot of scrabble apparently, and they ask Luke about the casino. They laugh a lot and Luke wishes he could be there with them, rounding out their little group and joining them for a quick cup of tea.

It’s a while later that Luke hears the door open to his left. He turns his head while Mikey tells a story about his last trip to the super market. Calum is leaning against the door jamb, small grin on his face pointed right at Luke. He’s wearing the dark charcoal grey suit Luke picked out for him this morning with a deep eggplant purple shirt underneath. He looks so beautiful, standing there in his rich colors against the pale shades of Harry’s guest bedroom.

Luke holds out his left hand, engagement ring shining against his pale skin. He hasn’t gotten much sun this summer. Calum steps into the room and takes Luke’s fingers in his dark ones, thumb settling over the ring. Luke can’t help but grin up at his fiancee, thinking the word instead of Calum’s name. Fiancee.

“Luke? You still there?” Mikey calls into the phone.

Luke puts his focus back on the phone call, Calum still holding his hand but tugging a bit now. “Yeah, sorry. Calum just walked in-”

“Oh, you’re fiancee’s more important than us now? I see how it is.” Mikey says the words with a mocking tone, knowing that Luke loves them still.

“Hang up the phone Michael! Let him be with his man. We’ll talk later love. Tell Calum we say hello and congratulations!” Before Luke can even say good bye, the beep signaling the end of the call plays in his ear.

Luke looks up at Calum, “Hey.”

“Hey.” Calum grins. He holds out his other hand, reaching for Luke’s. Luke puts his phone on the ground and takes Calum’s other hand. Calum’s plan is to help Luke up, but Luke pulls back.

“No, you come down here.” Luke tries to use his feet to kick Calum’s legs out from under him. Luke’s socked toes drag against Calum’s pants, not making any real impact.

Calum keeps a grip on Luke’s hands ,”Come on, everyone’s downstairs. And I can’t leave the sorority for too long, they’ll burn down the hotel.” Calum smirks and Luke gives in, letting Calum drag him to his feet.

When Luke’s standing, his hands settle on Calum’s waist and Calum’s arms are around his shoulders. Luke bends a bit to kiss Calum hello.

“We better get down there. Everyone’s mad you made them come up.” Calum says into Luke’s cheek.

“No they’re not,” Luke burrows into Calum’s neck, letting out a soft breath as he relaxes.

“It’s even worse, they’re suspicious.” Calum says with mock horror in his voice.

“They wouldn’t be if you hadn’t shown them the ring months ago.” Calum stills in Luke’s hold and then sighs.

“I’m never telling Harry anything again.”

Luke laughs at that. It starts as just a laugh because of course Calum will tell Harry stuff in the future and Harry will then tell Luke again. But the laugh evolves into something a little crazier when Luke realizes he’s about to tell all of his friends that he’s going to marry Calum. He’s going to marry Calum. It’s all a little bit daunting and exciting.

“Come on,” Calum drags Luke from the room, “before Ash eats all the pizza.”

They walk down the stairs, Luke behind Calum, pretending to push Calum a few times with Calum huffing up at him after. Luke’s giggling by the time they make it down the stairs, one hand covering his mouth.

He sees Grace first. She’s walking toward him and drawing him into a hug before he can really process that she’s there. “Hey Grace.” He pulls his arms around her and she squeezes.

“Luke, I know we haven’t talked in awhile but,” she leans back out of his arms and reaches for his left hand, “you could’ve told me you got engaged.” She looks at the ring for a second before dropping his hand, taking a step back and popping a hip. She folds her arms neatly over her chest and gives him a small pout and glare combo, thinking she's been wronged. 

Luke kind of just freezes. That’s not how he expected this to go. He takes his eyes off of Grace and turns to the rest of the room. Everyone is gathered in Harry’s kitchen. Harry’s leaning up against a counter with a smug look on his face with Anne right next to him, eyebrow raised with a grin. Louis is on Harry’s other side, looking a bit pissed he doesn’t already know what’s going on. Ashton is opposite them with a piece of pizza halfway to his mouth but his eyes are on Luke. Liam, sitting next to him, just looks confused. Hayley, the first to speak, is leaning against the counter with her jaw dropped.

“You got engaged?” Her voice is shrill against the stillness of the room. Still, no one moves. Luke looks over at Calum just as Calum turns to him.

Calum shrugs before turning back to their friends, unimpressed look on his face, “I liked it, so I put a ring on it.” Luke stifles a laugh with his left hand, and that brings the ring to everyone’s attention.

Just as soon as the kitchen quieted, it erupts. Ashton with a loud, “Finally,” Liam’s face crinkles up and Hayley quickly gathers the two of them into a hug. Anne comes over to inspect the ring, and approves. Harry watches the whole thing, the grin never leaving his face while Louis hovers next to him, watching Harry smile.

It’s a happy lunch hour, lots of jokes and ideas for the wedding. All of their friends have input and only some of it is actually good. The whole time, Calum's hand is firmly planted on Luke's lower back. Luke can't stop smiling.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was ok! The next bit will be up on October 1st. It might be longer, it might be shorter, and I don't know which way I'd prefer. 
> 
> On tumblr at emmybazy.tumblr.com. Can someone please teach me how to do links on this thing? I'm so bad at internet. :/
> 
> Have a good rest of your day!


	4. Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke meets Gladdie, Luke meets his idol, and Luke messes up. 
> 
> Four of Clubs is when Luke is 13 (2009), King of Diamonds starts when Luke is 39 (June 2036), and Queen of Spades is Luke at 37 (August 2033).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI.
> 
> This is the chapter with the minor character death. There's not much focus on the death itself but there it a whole lot of discussion of what death can mean to a person, so if that's not something you want to delve into, stay away. It is very character specific though, so that might make it easier/harder to read. 
> 
> A lot of things happen in this chapter. Like things that probably shouldn't happen. Like cats that seemingly understand english and I'm pretty sure I change the geography of the western United States. And also I think I made up some legal stuff. But just bare (bear? bear) bear with me. Also, any responses/comments would be super appreciated since I really don't know how this all will go over!
> 
> I currently am editor-less so this has some crappy grammar. If you are someone who loves editing and constructively criticizing other people's works while also putting up with the whiny author of said work, plus you have an crazy love for cake, come talk to me. 
> 
> I may not have an editor, but I've got a lot of friends who have helped me through this! To anyone who gave me any encouraging words (especially Stella and Georgie), thanks so much! I literally wouldn't have gotten through this chapter otherwise.
> 
> I continually do not have the ability to claim ownership over 5sos, 1d, or any other thing I talk about in this work of complete fiction. 
> 
> Enjoy. Hopefully.

**Four of Clubs**

The cards slap down onto the table, Luke’s grip around them light and guiding. He’s been working on picking up the feel of each individual card against his fingers. As the last card hits, he pulls them into a bridge letting them fall into position.

He sits for a moment, just watching the cards as if they will move. He thinks...he thinks he might have done it.

Luke slowly picks up the deck, turning it gently in his hands. He’d separated the cards into black and red halves before he shuffled, just to see his progress. It’s been six months now and Luke is still fascinated with the idea of faro shuffling. He just wants to do it once. If he can do it once, he doesn’t care if he ever does it again. He’s been so close recently, one or two cards off in the center of the deck where he’s used to going faster.

But this time...it feels different. Like the cards are at peace. The bottom card is the four of clubs. Luke thumbs passed it to see the queen of hearts. He goes card to card, black, red, black, red, until he gets to the final card, the eight of diamonds. It’s perfect.

Luke practically drops the cards onto the table, standing up with his fists in the air high above his head. Possibly a small whoop escapes his lips. He wonders if this is what it feels like to score the winning goal in a soccer game, or to walk hand in hand with the person you like. Or maybe this is just better. Luke conquered the cards. He controlled them. He learned how to do the perfect shuffle.

A part of Luke wants to bundle the cards up, never use them again and keep them in the same order to show off to the world. But he also wants to try again, see if he can do it. But then he might not be able to show off the deck. He’s worked so hard at this and he thinks he deserves to brag a little. So he picks up the deck to find someone to congratulate him.

The problem is that no one is home. Luke’s parents are nowhere to be found and his even the dog is gone. Luke would’ve settled for a victory dance with his giant golden retriever but he’s the only one home.

Luke decides not to give up. He lives in a neighborhood and it’s a nice day so there’s got to be someone out who he can tell about his shuffle. He flings open the front door, deck clasped in his right hand and eyes surveying for someone to brag to.

Luke can hear the Cooper kids across the street. They must be in their backyard, Mr. Cooper had put in a new swing set for them a few days ago. The screeches of delight don’t sound like they’d be happy if Luke were to interrupt. He knows Jenny is probably home but she’s down the next street and she always rolls her eyes when he shows her his cards. That won’t do.

Luke runs his nail over the edge of his cards, wondering who he can show. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a slight movement. A rocking motion.

Mrs. Mckee is sitting on an old white whicker rocking chair at the house to his right. She’s been living there for decades longer than Luke’s been alive. He doesn’t really talk to her much, just a little wave whenever he walks down the street and sees her outside. She gives out the big lollipops on halloween. She seems nice.

Luke starts walking through his yard to cross onto Mrs. Mckee’s grass. He’s not sure if she’ll be interested in the cards but it’s just bubbling up inside him. He needs to tell someone and soon.

“Hi Mrs. Mckee.” He says and waves as he approaches the porch.

Mrs. Mckee turns her head to look at Luke. She grins slightly when she recognizes him. “Oh, Luke. How are you today sweetie?” She’s the picturesque grandma sitting on her porch with her smile sweet like sugar and her eyes wide and caring.

Luke puts one hand behind his back, grabbing his opposite elbow, suddenly nervous under Mrs. Mckee’s gaze. “Good. I did a trick with my cards.” He shrugs.

“Oh!” Mrs. Mckee perks up at that, a hint of mischief sneaking into her eyes. “What trick, darling?”

“Uh...” Luke’s not really sure how to explain the shuffle. “It’s called a faro shuffle? It just means that it’s the perfect shuffle. Here,” He hands Mrs. Mckee the deck. “I started with black on one side and red on the other.” Luke watches as Mr. Mckee slowly goes through the cards before turning up to eye Luke, grin gone.

“I don’t believe you.” She says flatly, no anger or disappointment in her voice.

“What?” Luke is confused to say the least, his shoulders hunch up a bit.

Mrs. Mckee hands the deck back to Luke and then crosses her arms, wearing a smug expression. “You did that yourself, didn’t you? Wanted to see if you could fool an old lady.”

“No.” Luke says sadly, reaching out as if he can reassure Mrs. Mckee with the motion. “I’ve been practicing a long time and this is the first time I’ve done it. Honest.”

Mrs. Mckee eyes him, “Prove it.”

“How?” Luke asks.

Mrs. Mckee nods her graying head at the deck, “Do it again. If you can do it once you can do it again.”

Luke slightly pouts down at the cards. “I don’t think I can.”

“Sure you can. If you really did do it the first time.” Mrs. Mckee shrugs her shoulders, still looking up at Luke.

Luke looks down at his cards. Yeah, he can do it again. He did it once, he can do it again. Luke understands cards, how they fall and twist. He can do this.

Luke quickly separates the black from the reds again, making sure not to accidentally put a heart on the black side. He can feel Mrs. Mckees eyes on him as he moves quickly. He fans the cards out a bit so she can see the different colors.

Luke pulls the sides to the deck into a familiar pose, readying to make them dance. Letting them go is almost hard, a bit scary for Luke. This time someone is watching the bend in his fingers and the arch of the cards in his hands.

He shuffles quickly, just a few seconds. He knows he did it this time. Can feel it in his body that he’s finally getting the hang of this. Luke passes the deck to Mrs. Mckee for inspection.

Mrs. Mckee takes her time, slowly looking at each card. She looks up with a small smile when she’s through all the cards. “Impressive.”

Luke can feel warmth slosh around in his gut from her praise. “Thanks Mrs. Mckee.”

“You’re welcome. And don’t call me Mrs., that’s for grown ups,” she looks up with a smirk, “Call me Gladdie.”

 

**King of Diamonds**

 

There’s a weight on Luke’s back. A solid warmth resting on his shoulder blades as he wakes up. He can feel the lump breathing, the air hitting the back of his neck.

“Get off me.” He mumbles into his pillow, head turning to the side. He reaches back to run his fingers through soft fur. “Queenie, if you don’t get off, I’m going to squish you.”

Queenie makes a soft cat noise, one of the ones that can’t be translated into human other than ‘mrp’ but Luke knows it means, ‘you wouldn’t dare.’ Luke groans into his pillow, his hilariously over weight cat making it hard to breathe. Queenie gets the hint and stands up, stretching a bit on his back and kneading her paws into his neck. He pretends it’s like a kitty massage. Queenie jumps off his back quickly and he rolls over, scooping her up.

Luke loves his cat. He holds her up like Rafiki holds Simba in the Lion King, something she’s come to love. She’s all black except for a sliver of white down her chest, the only way other people can tell the difference between her and her brother, Spade, Calum’s cat. But Luke loves Queenie, his fifteen pound ball of fluff and sass, her green eyes flashing down at him.

Luke and Queenie are the only ones in bed. Calum must have already gone in for work. Normally Luke would’ve had to work today too, but Zayn had asked to switch so he could go to a doctor’s appointment with his pregnant wife. Luke couldn’t say no to that, just as excited about Perrie’s pregnancy as the happy couple are.

“Did daddy feed you before he left?” Luke says as he plays with his quite malleable cat, pushing her paws this way and that. “Or did he forget? Don’t lie.”

Queenie just meows softly. Luke sets her down on his chest and she nuzzles in, her large cat body so accustomed to the spot. Calum’s lucky that Spade prefers his cat bed to their bed. Between Calum and Queenie, Luke can’t remember the last time he fell asleep without weight on top of some part of his body. The things he does for love.

Luke pets Queenie as he wakes up and she purrs in delight. Luke doesn’t know what he’ll do today. He hasn’t had a day off without Calum in a long time. They might do separate things on their day off, Calum going out while Luke heads over to Mikey’s, but they always start off together. As much as Luke loves his cats, they’re not really a replacement for his husband.

“Ok, let’s get out of bed. Can’t lay around all day. It’s not like we’re cats.” Luke whispers to Queenie. He can feel her look up at the end, as if she sensed that he told a bad joke. He can’t help but giggle at her flustered face, with her whiskers twitching.

Luke slowly gets out of bed, grabbing Queenie and wrapping her up in his arms before heading out of the bedroom. They haven’t done much to redecorate over the close to ten years they’ve lived here. Calum painted the walls one weekend and they got a new couch, leather so the cat hair would be easier to clean. But otherwise, the only differences Luke sees from when he first moved in are the cat toys and beds in the corner and the food bowls near the doorway of the kitchen. Ah, so Calum did feed them this morning.

Luke looks down at the pluff ball snuggled into his chest. “Liar! He fed you. I told you, that’s not going to work on me again.” Luke steps off the bottom stair and Spade is immediately darting between his feet. “Good morning.” Luke says cheerfully, bending down to pat at Spade’s head. Spade leans into it, forcing his dark head into Luke’s palm. While Queenie has always loved every bit of attention you give her, gladly letting herself be cat-handled and squished, Spade is more picky. He likes deciding when he gets to be touched. Rather than being brought to the TV to cuddle like Queenie, Spade prefers to jump and find his own spot to snuggle into, normally involving his chin on Calum’s thigh so Calum can gently stroke his ears.

The morning goes by slowly. It’s only been an hour since Luke woke up and he’s already eaten a quick breakfast, showered, dressed, and triple checked his normal card forums for anything new. He’s bored. Queenie and Spade are taking their usual mid morning nap on the couch, entwined just as Luke and Calum normally end up. Luke’s feet hit rhythmically against their kitchen island as he’s perched on a stool. He’s got his deck of cards in hand, trying to figure out this trick he saw at a show a few weeks ago.

Luke’s frustrated. He doesn’t have nearly as much time to practice his cards as he once did. He’s happy with his life, definitely. He’s the casino manager at one of Vegas’ best reviewed casinos. He just celebrated his five year wedding anniversary with the guy who is so amazing his dreams couldn’t even think him up. He has the love of two wonderful cats as well as his family of coworkers and friends.

But his cards. His skills have suffered ever since starting at the casino. Sure, he still works shifts as a dealer sometimes, just for the fun of it. But his fingers are becoming rusty when he goes to do tricks now. In his twenties, whenever he had a spare second he was practicing, blindly doing trick cuts while he watched TV an ate. Now, more likely than not, his hands find their spare moments wrapped in Calum’s or around a beer bottle in Harry and Louis apartment. His cards were what used to keep him calm and now it’s people.

It’s hard. For so long he’s found his worth in his card tricks and now he can’t do them right. Last week, he’d been sure he’d faro shuffled a deck but when he had looked, the top three cards hadn’t been put in the shuffle at all.

But even still, as he sits trying to figure this sleight out, he wants to see Calum. The idea of spending the whole day on the couch practicing tricks no longer sounds as appealing as it did when he was sixteen and craved knowledge about cards. Now he just wants to kiss his husband.

Luke sets the cards down with a resigned sigh. He pushes off from the counter and goes to grab the cats’ harnesses and leashes. The twin black faces perk up when he steps up to the couch. “Who wants to go visit daddy?”

*****

Luke never tires of the looks people send him when he takes Queenie and Spade out into the hotel. They’ve never been outside the hotel, the only trees and plants they’ve ever seen have been the different displays around the hotel and the time the Washington Flower Competition came to stay. At first, Calum and Luke had been hesitant about taking the cats out of their apartment, but after a few months of training with the harnesses, they figured it wouldn’t be too bad. Now, Luke would trust the cats here even if he didn’t have them leashed, but Queenie looks so cute in her little red harness and he likes showing them off.

The elevator doors open and the three of them strut out. Luke’s wearing his skinny jeans that he’s surprised he can still fit into with a cat leash in each hand and a black cat on either side of his feet. The cats know the route to Calum’s office by now. They walk through the lobby, some people look down and aww as the cats past while others look a bit in shock. Luke thinks they’re probably just jealous.

The route to Calum’s office takes him past Ashton’s. Luke decides to stop and see if Ashton is there or if he’s running around the hotel. When he enters the little alcove carved out for Ashton’s receptionist, Jenny is sitting there.

“Kittens!” Jenny’s one of the worst when it comes to spoiling Queenie and Spade. She jumps up when she sees them and grabs a few of the cat treats she keeps in her desk just for them. Queenie puffs out her chest a bit and prances faster over to Jenny who is kneeling on the ground in her pencil skirt.

“Nice to see you too, Jenny.” Luke says with a smirk.

“Don’t listen to them, babies. He’s just jealous I like you more.” Jenny stage whispers to Queenie and Spade who have euphoric looks on their face as Jenny scratches their bellies. 

“Is Ashton in?” Luke asks.

“Yep, I can take care of these two while you talk,” Jenny says, holding her hands out for the leashes.

“Don’t spoil them, you’re going to make them like you more than us,” Luke cautions as he hands over the leashes.

Jenny grins, “Like they already don’t.” She stands back up and leads the cats behind her desk, tying the leashes to one of the drawers before returning her attention to the cats.

“Thanks Jenny,” Luke calls as he opens the door to Ashton’s office, not bothering to knock. Ashton is sitting at his desk, typing something up.

His eyes flick to the door before turning back to the computer. “Hey Luke, just let me finish this.”

“Take your time, I’ve got nowhere to be.” Luke plops down in one of Ashton’s plush office chairs. “Your receptionist is cat sitting for me.”

Ashton rolls his eyes, “Good, keep them away from me.”

Luke laughs, a little breathily as he speaks, “You’re not allergic-”

“I am! I swear, as soon as they come in I’ll be dripping snot.” Ashton argues as his eyes scan the computer screen.

“Fine, Jenny’s got them. Your sinuses are saved.” Luke watches as Ashton finishes what he’s doing and turns in his chair to Luke.

“Now, how can I help you?” Ashton looks a bit ridiculous in his suit with his hair combed back. Luke can see in the lines on Ashton’s face the laughter that caused them. Ashton’s one of those people that Luke figured would never grow up. Maybe Ashton never did, but his body didn’t get the memo.

“I’m just bored. Figured I’d bring the cats down and visit Calum.”

Ashton, in jest, furrows his eyebrows, “You are aware I’m not Calum.”

Luke tries not to grin, “Shut up.” Ashton laughs.

“Well, Grace is upstairs and she doesn’t have to go in until later. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind some company.” Ashton leans back into his big leather chair to get comfortable.

“So has she officially moved in or are you guys still pretending she hasn’t.” Grace and Ash have developed a similar problem to the beginning of Luke and Calum’s relationship. The only difference is that Luke and Calum had sorted themselves out within half a year. Ashton and Grace have been going on five years now, living out of each other’s pockets but telling everyone it’s just casual.

Ashton shrugs, “You know why she hasn’t moved in.”

“Yeah, because you’re too afraid to ask her.” Luke points out.

“No,” Ashton looks a bit upset, “because we both value our independence. We’re not like you and Calum or Harry and Lou. We’re doing it our way.”

Luke, noticing that this will devolve into the normal arguments he gets in with both Grace and Ashton, takes the out, “Speaking of, have you heard from the Tomlinsons?”

Ash’s face relaxes easily at that. Harry and Louis he can talk about, just not himself.  “Harry called two days ago to check in.”

“Where are they now?”

Ashton touches his fist to his forehead in thought, “Oh god...I think it was the Seattle hotel...Or maybe it was DC, something that had to do with one of the Washington's.”

Luke nods, “Did they say when they’ll get back?” It’s been weird not having Louis and Harry down the hall, hosting dinner once a week for anyone who could make it. But Luke gets that they have to do this, as co owners of the Styles hotel brand, they have to make trips to all the hotels, not just stay at one. And if Harry does decide to build another hotel in Canada, his first being in Vancouver four years ago but now he was thinking about Quebec, then they’d see even less of the Tomlinsons.

Ashton taps the arms of his chair as he speaks, “No, it was mostly a business call. Just asked how everyone was and if I’d been taking care of Toto.”

“Queenie and Spade get jealous about how much you love that dog.” Luke pouts.

“I’m allergic! What do you want me to do Luke.”

“Love my children,” Luke says. It’s a joke, but it’s not. Queenie and Spade are his little darlings and it’s embarrassing how much he’s come to love two cats.

Ashton sighs, “I do, even though they constantly try to kill me with their fur.” The phone rings on the last word. Ashton lifts it to his ear, “Hey Jenny. I remember....They’re here already? But it’s...Yes, please tell them I’ll be right out to meet them.” Ashton hangs up the phone with another sigh, this one is heavy. “Those VIP guests are here, that TV show?” Luke nods, Ashton had told him about it to warn him for the casino. Luke had already put his foot down. No cameras in his casino. Period. “They’re here five hours early and are making a fuss because reception won’t check them in.”

Luke frowns, “We don’t do check ins before three.”

Ashton stands and fixes his hair. “Exactly, that’s why they need the manager.”

Luke stand and follows Ashton out the door, clapping a hand on his back, “Good luck.”

Ashton grimaces as he walks out of the little alcove, “Thanks, I’m sure I’m going to need it.”

Luke turns back to Jenny. “My cats please.”

Jenny, reluctantly, hands over the leashes, “You need to bring them down more often.”

“Maybe, see you Jenny,” Luke says as he leaves and heads toward Calum’s office.

The Director of Groups and Conferences office is set up just like Luke’s, an inconspicuous door that you wouldn’t notice, unlike Ashton’s obvious alcove. Inside the door, there is a small office and reception area. Back when Calum was just the first mate, he would sit behind that desk but now it’s Ty, the guy Calum hired as his replacement when he got promoted.

Ty looks up when Luke walks in. Luke gives a little wave and Ty rolls his eyes. “Honestly, can you two go five seconds without seeing each other?”

Luke grins, “Yep, remember when I went to that conference in Ocean City last year? That was four days!” He acts triumphant but Ty just shakes his head.

“I came in this morning and he was whining about how he wishes he had switched his days off too. You’re so annoying.” Ty rolls his eyes again but Luke knows it’s just how he is, mockery is his way of showing he cares. Calum and Luke aren’t nearly as bad as they could be.

“Am I good to go in?” Luke asks.

“You should be good. Try to keep it quiet this time.” Ty smirks.

“Ty, how many times do I have to say it, we weren’t-”

“Tell it to someone who will believe you.” Ty turns back to his computer.

Luke opens the door and steps in. Calum is sitting in one of the big chairs in the corner rather than behind his desk, scribbling something on a legal pad. Luke catches his eye and smiles, shutting the door behind him.

“Well hello there,” Calum says, clicking the pen and setting the pad to the side. Luke undoes the leashes on the cats harnesses and walks over to Calum.

“Good morning,” Luke says before settling his hands on either side of Calum’s face, ducking down and kissing him. When Calum starts to pull away after a few pecks, Luke just stays adamant. He thinks maybe he should just straddle Calum’s lap and see how far they get before someone interrupts. Ty had been right, Calum and Luke have had sex in this office, more times than Ty or anyone else on the staff realize. Who knows, maybe even more than Harry and Louis did back when the office had been Lou’s.

But Calum stops Luke as he starts to tug at Calum’s tie. “Hey.”

“Thanks for feeding the cats,” Luke says, taking a seat on the arm of the chair. Calum wraps and arm around his hips, making sure Luke won’t fall. Just as Luke’s about to lean in to get his mouth back on Calum’s, Spade jumps up onto the other arm of the chair.

“Hey buddy.” Calum says and pets Spade’s chest. All of Calum’s attention is on the cats as Queenie comes over too. Oh. Luke always forgets that Calum doesn’t like messing around in front of them, thinks it scares them or something. Well, there goes that plan.

“We were bored,” Luke says, picking Queenie up off the ground and settling her on his lap. “Jenny spoiled them again.”

“She’s gotta to stop that. Queenie’s already too fat as it is.” Calum moves the hand from behind Luke’s back and runs a single finger along Queenie’s cheek.

Luke stands up for his baby, swatting Calum’s finger away and cuddling her closer, “Just because Spade is unnaturally skinny doesn’t mean Queenie’s fat.”

“Spade’s not skinny, he’s overweight too. They’re both overweight which is the problem,” Calum says as he pets Spade’s glossy back. Luke makes sure to brush them as often as he can. It’s mostly to keep cat hair off their sheets but it makes them look damn pretty too.

“We could take them for more walks?” Luke suggests.

The corner’s of Calum’s mouth quirk up, “I saw this kitty exercise thing. It’s like a giant scratching post they can run around on. It’s supposed to really help.”

Luke holds Queenie up and looks into her eyes, trying to imagine his lazy cat running around on a giant scratching post, “Do you think they’d use it?”

“No, they’d probably be angry with it and pee on it.” Calum grins as he says it and Luke laughs.

The phone starts to ring. Spade jumps off the chair and runs over to one of the cat beds Calum put in the corner of his office for when he brings them down. Calum groans, but gets up to go sit at his desk and pick up the receiver. “Calum Hood. Director of Groups and Conferences, how may I help you?”

Luke keeps one ear listening to the conversation as he shifts down into the seat and pets down Queenie’s back. He has to remember to clean the litter box when he goes back up, he’s pretty sure he forgot last night.

“Of course!” Calum sounds shocked over at his desk. Luke looks up and Calum is sitting up straight, eyes wide and lips tight. “Yes, we can definitely accommodate you. It’s not like you’re not giving us enough time.” Calum gives a nervous laugh. “Yes definitely. Would you rather our lawyers or yours draft the agreement?” Calum’s eyebrows furrows as he listens, taking notes on the post-its he keeps scattered around his desk. “Ok, that’s fine with us. If you could give me the contact information, I will pass it along to our lawyers who will insist on some basic agreements on our side.” Luke wonders who it could be. They only get the lawyers out for the big guns, where if one side pulls out of the deal, it would involve a loss of so much money that they could go to court over it.

“Yes, we can talk price later. I’ll also need to be getting the Mr’s. Tomlinson involved.” Calum pauses his hand. “No sir, I have the power to confirm but they will want to get involved to make sure you have the best event imaginable.” Calum hesitates for a second before grinning and continuing, “We have a member of our staff who is a big fan of yourself, sir, as well as your organization. He’s made us all fans so that can only help you.” Calum’s eyes flick up to Luke at that, his grin to broad and proud to comprehend.

As Calum listens his face slightly changes to a mixture of shock and admiration, “Yes, him sir.” Calum watches Luke, trying to hold back a smile, “I hope you don’t mind if I share what you said with him. We're married and it will make his week if I told him.” The other person speaks again and now Luke is absolutely baffled by what is happening. Calum gives a little chuckle, “Yes, about five years now. Thank you so much sir. I’m looking forward to speaking more with you in the future and a mutually beneficial working agreement. Thank you,” Calum is about to hang up the phone but then laughs into the mouth piece again, “I’m sure it will. Thank you again. Have a wonderful week sir.”

The air goes still in the room. Calum’s still looking at the phone sitting in it’s cradle like it's changing colors and Luke is afraid to ask what just happened. Queenie breaks the silence when she makes her cute little “mrp” sound.

Calum looks up, eyes wide and jaw dropped, and looks at Luke. He quickly gets out from behind the chair and looms in front of Luke, bending down to kiss him hard.

Luke’s a little shocked by the occurrence and flounders a bit before getting his footing, grabbing onto Calum’s shirt. Queenie jumps off his lap with a flustered meow and Calum bends one of his knees into the chair cushion between Luke’s legs. So much for the cats.

Luke’s starting to forget about the phone conversation when Calum pulls back a hair, just enough to speak, “You will never, ever, guess who that just was.”

“Don’t care,” Luke says, trying to bring Calum closer.

Calum just laughs, “Yes you do, you just don’t realize it yet.” Calum gives him one more quick kiss before saying, “Guess.”

“I don’t know.” Luke gets a kiss to his temple.

“Come on, guess.”

“Uh...” he tries to rack his mind of what he loves, “something to do with cats?”

“No.” Calum presses a kiss to his neck this time, biting a bit.

“Some card company?” Calum shakes his head again while still working at Luke’s throat. Luke huffs out, “For god’s sakes Calum, just tell me.”

Calum lifts his head, and speaks right before he kisses Luke, “Ed Sheeran.”

Luke immediately pulls back, putting a foot of space between himself and Calum, practically crawling up the back of the chair. “What?!”

Calum’s just watching Luke, his eyes sparkling with a closed mouth grin. Calum is nodding his head in a steady rhythm, eyes never leaving Luke. Luke must look terrified. His heart is beating so fast he’s worried about having a heart attack.

“That was...you were just...” Luke looks over at the phone and then back to Calum who is still just nodding his head. When Luke speaks next, his voice is warped and cracked, practically silent. “Ed Sheeran?”

“Yeah.” Calum says, still focused on Luke.

“But...what?” Luke’s hands are gripping tightly to Calum’s shoulders, holding him back a bit while Calum’s arms frame Luke’s face, holding the chair back behind him.

“He’s in charge of the 25th Annual Convention of Concealment and they want to have it here.” Calum says, face still bright.

And Luke’s heart stops. They want to have the COC here? The 25th COC here? “Why?”

“Apparently he’s heard great things and enjoyed his stay here.” Calum says like they’re not talking about Ed Sheeran. When the fuck did Ed Sheeran stay here? Calum smirks, putting a hand in Luke’s hair. “He also admired the casino.”

“Ed Sheeran was in my casino?” Luke barely whispers it.

“Yes, and apparently he’s a big fan of how you run things. Told me he has a lot of respect for you.” Calum’s smiling so wide, probably internally laughing at Luke.

Luke’s arms go slack and Calum pulls him into his chest. Luke buries his face into Calum’s neck, Calum running a hand through his hair as Luke says, “Ed Sheeran knows who I am. The best damn card manipulator in the world knows who I am.”

“Yeah, he does. You’re that good Lukey.”

Luke just mumbles into Calum’s neck. “Holy fuck. Ed Sheeran.”

*****

It’s not until later, when the sheer euphoria that Luke feels fades away, that Luke realizes what that means. In two years he’s going to have the world’s best card manipulators in his casino. He somehow has to train all his dealers to spot and stop them from cheating. Besides the fact that even if Luke was dealing, he wouldn’t be able to spot most of them. He’s a bit rusty and complacent in his old age.

“Calum?” Luke calls from their couch, Queenie is right beside him and he has a plate of pizza in his hands.

“Yeah?” Calum calls from the kitchen.

“Do you think I’m still good with cards?” Luke hopes his insecurity doesn’t show too much. But Ed Sheeran is coming.

Calum walks out of the archway, wiping his hands on his pajama pants, “What are you talking about?”

Luke shrugs, taking a bite to give himself some time to think up a response. “I’ve been rusty lately. Just wondering if you noticed.”

Calum plops down onto the opposite side of the couch. “You haven’t really done anything with your cards in front of me lately.”

Luke puts his pizza to the side, instead hugging Queenie to his chest. “Really?”

Calum shrugs, “It’s not like you really have time anymore. Between work, the cats, us spending time together.” Calum runs a thumb up his face, scratching at his nose, “I at least never see it anymore, unless you’re practicing in your office.”

Luke almost laughs at that. He hardly ever goes in his office upstairs anymore. “No.” He mindlessly pets at Queenie’s head and turns to watch the TV.

“Luke,” Calum says, drawing Luke’s attention back to him, “Are you nervous because of Ed Sheeran?”

Luke shrugs. It’s not that he’s nervous about Ed Sheeran. He’s upset that he’s not as skilled with cards anymore and this whole Ed Sheeran thing is making it painfully obvious.

“No. It’s just...I don’t know what happened.” Luke shrugs again, not meeting Calum’s eye. “When you met me I couldn’t go an hour without shuffling and now I hardly ever touch my cards throughout the day. A few weeks ago I came home and had completely forgotten to even take a pack with me.”

Luke looks up and Calum is watching him, his eyes dark in the dim room. “I think that’s a good thing.”

Luke laughs in exasperation, “How?”

Calum brings his legs up onto the couch between them, tucking his toes under Luke’s thighs. “Cards have always been a comfort thing for you. Maybe it shows that you’re getting more comfortable with yourself.” Calum moves his foot slowly against Luke’s thigh, a soothing motion.

Luke’s throat feels tight, “Or maybe I’m just getting the comfort from you and the cats now. Maybe it was better when it was cards. I can always just buy a deck, but you guys won’t always be there.”

Calum’s foot stills and his eyes grow wide. It was a cheap shot, recalling back the darkest time in their relationship. Calum’s face goes hard.

“Don’t do this again Luke. I can’t do that again.” Calum draws back his feet and Luke immediately feels guilty. He puts Queenie on the ground and crawls over to Calum, settling between his thighs.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles into Calum’s chest, right over the now faded Nine of Clubs tattoo that he still loves so much.

“It’s not a bad thing to love me.”

“I know Cal. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, I promise.” Luke promises by pressing his lips gently against the skin of Calum’s neck.

Calum reaches up to stroke the back of Luke’s neck, “I love you. Cards can’t love you back.”

Luke can feel Calum’s pulse against his lips with his head pressed into Calum’s neck. “I know. I just forget sometimes.”

They stay there. Calum rubs a hand up and down Luke’s back until Queenie gets mad and sits right at the dip in Luke’s back, paws kneading at his bum. Then Calum starts petting her instead. Luke breathes in Calum, trying to be ok with the fact that Calum is more his home than a deck of cards. It’s taken him awhile.

*****

 

Luke is already up and showering when Calum’s alarm goes off on the day they’re going to meet Ed Sheeran. Luke has been practically bouncing for days. Calum, and Harry since he got back a week ago, have been in touch with Ed Sheeran for the past month. They decided on a meeting, today, with all the lawyers to finalize the contract about the hotel hosting the COC.

Apparently Ed Sheeran is a nice guy. Calum gloats to Luke every time he calls, just to make Luke angry. If anything, it makes Luke nervous. He’s been a fan for so long, before Ed Sheeran was even a big name in the magic world. Luke remembers staying up late in high school watching youtube videos of Ed Sheeran shows, back when he was performing in small venues. And now Luke gets to meet him?

When Luke gets out of the shower, Calum is still lying in bed. Luke walks over and pats Calum’s cheeks in a syncopated rhythm. “Calum...” Luke whispers, “wake up. Big day today.”

“I’m up.” Calum reaches up to grab Luke’s wrists, stilling his hands on his face. Luke takes the opportunity to squish Calum’s cheeks. Calum has the mushiest face, it’s almost seems scientifically impossible.

Calum slowly comes to, blinking a few times, before looking at Luke. His eyes trail down Luke’s body and he smirks. “What’s with the modesty, babe?” Calum lets go of Luke’s wrists and moves his hands to the towel wrapped around Luke’s hips. Luke jumps away.

“No!” Luke tries to be serious but he can’t help the grin on his face, “We’re meeting Ed Sheeran in...” Luke looks to the clock, “one hour and twelve minutes and I refuse to go smelling like sex.”

Calum brings his hands up under his head and watches as Luke puts boxers on, “You don’t know, he might like it.”

Luke looks over to Calum, “You think so? I’ve been looking to start an affair and he’d be the perfect candidate.”

“I know you’re joking, but at the same time, I’m kind of worried since I know you had a huge crush on him when you were young.”

Luke walks over to their closet, calling over his shoulder to Calum, “A talent crush. I promise I won’t leave you.”

Calum, having snuck up behind him, wraps his arms around Luke’s waist, “I know. What are you going to wear?”

Luke looks at the suit rack in their walk in closet. It’s pretty packed. Both he and Calum have accumulated quite the number of suits over the years, ranging in colors and cuts. Their shirts are all stacked in drawers next to the rack. If Hayley hadn’t bought them a gift certificate to a closet organizing agency for their wedding, they’d be standing in a pile of socks and dress shirts.

“I was thinking about this suit with that one green shirt I like?” Luke points to his darker grey suit. Calum shakes his head resting on Luke’s shoulder.

“You should wear the blue one,” Calum mumbles into Luke’s neck.

“Isn’t that a bit flashy for this kind of thing?” Luke touches the pale, grey blue suit that he’s come to love over the years. It’s his going out suit and nice occasion suit. Hell, he wore it on their wedding and has kept in shape just to continue to fit into it.

“No. And I like how it makes your eyes look,” Calum presses kisses against the back of Luke’s neck. Luke turns his head to kiss Calum properly.

“Alright. I’ll go take care of the cats before I put it on.”

Luke turns around and gets a few more kisses before Calum pulls back and asks, “Can you bring some breakfast back up with you too?” Luke rolls his eyes and Calum pinches Luke’s sides while trying to make him smile, “Please? Thank you? Wonderful husband?”

Luke sighs, “Fine, shower. We have an hour Cal, an hour.”

Calum walks to the bathroom, calling out, “Got it.” Luke just shakes his head and smiles, opening their bedroom door and trotting downstairs to wake up his cats.

As expected, Queenie and Spade are curled up together in their giant cat bed next to the couch. That’s where they end up every time Calum and Luke shut them out of their bedroom. Queenie gives him a little glare as he steps off the last stair.

“I’m sorry. Can I make it up to you in food?” Luke coos as he swings his arms down to grab Queenie. Apparently, that’s all it takes because Queenie seems to forgive him, burrowing into his chest as he fills their cat bowls. While they eat, Luke throws some cereal in bowls for him and Calum, pats the cats on the heads, silently apologizes because there is no way he’s going to touch them again once he’s in his blue suit, and heads back upstairs.

An hour later, Calum and Luke walk down the second floor hallway past the multiple event rooms they have for conferences. The end of the hallway has the room they use whenever high profile people come in, It’s a corner room with two walls of windows. The chairs are comfy and it’s close to Harry’s office.

When Luke and Calum step in, Louis and Harry are already seated and waiting for them. Harry gives them a smile while Louis says, “Oh, just you two. Thought it was someone important.”

Calum flips him the bird and Louis laughs at that. Luke looks at the table trying to figure out where to sit. There’s no place that really makes sense, but surely Harry has already planned it all out, “Where do I sit?”

Harry points to the seats next to him. “Calum’s next to me and you’re the seat next to him. So it’ll be me and Calum as the chief negotiators and you and Louis are our adorable cheerleaders.” Harry looks over his shoulder at Louis and smirks. Louis, who embarrasses himself regularly when it comes to Harry, just smiles dopily back.

“What about the lawyers?” Luke asks, then amends the statement, “Where are the lawyers?”

Harry holds up his phone, “On speed dial and cramped in my office. We’ve already got four people here, don’t want to scare him too much.”

Luke’s heart drops, “I don’t really have to be here. I can go tell Matt to come in.”

Harry shoots him a look, “Hush Luke, you’re meeting Ed Sheeran. We can handle him without lawyers. It will be fine.” Luke's not so sure about that.

At that moment, there is a knock on the door. All of them stand up and Harry says, “Come in.”

Ashton opens the door, laughing at something their guest has said, and then Luke sees him. It’s fucking Ed Sheeran. He might just cry.

“Well hello there,” Ed Sheeran puts his hands on his hips and surveys them all as his law team enters behind them, “It is so good to finally meet all of you.” He steps around the table to Louis’s end first and shakes his hand, “Louis I presume?”

Louis nods, “Pleasure to meet you.”

Ed Sheeran moves down the line to Harry, extending his hand, “Harry, you’re hotel is beautiful.”

Harry beams, “Thanks, I can’t take all the credit.”

Ed Sheeran raises his other hand to clasp Harry’s, “It’s your name on the door mate, you can take as much credit as you’d like.”

Luke watches as Ed Sheeran turns to Calum. Ed Sheeran adopts a more informal tone, “It’s good to finally talk in person Calum.”

“Sure is,” Calum shakes and lets go of Ed Sheeran’s hand and reaches back to grab Luke’s shoulder and pull him forward, “Ed, I’d like you to meet my husband, Luke.”

Luke’s heart is beating and his hands are sweaty. He’s meeting his childhood idol, his hero. He’s allowed to be embarrassing. It’s totally normal that he trips a bit to take a step forward to shake Ed Sheeran’s hand, “Mr. Sheeran, I’m such a huge fan. Thank you so much for choosing our hotel for the COC.”

Ed Sheeran laughs at that, “Well, it hasn’t been finalized yet, could still go elsewhere.” He smiles but must see the look on Luke’s face, the beginnings of a heart attack no doubt, and immediately placates Luke like he’s a small yipping dog, “Woah, sorry. Just a joke. I’m a big fan of yours as well,” Luke feels a volcano going off inside his chest, “And it’s Ed. No reason for that formal jargon. I’m not a mark.”

Luke laughs at that, more out of complete emotional exhaustion than anything else. Ed moves back around the table and takes his seat opposite Calum and Harry, “Shall we get down to business?”

Harry and Calum nod. One of the lawyery types brings out an iPad. There’s a contract app that the hotel uses where different parties can sign into the document and change it at will. After they have agreed on the terms, there is a finalize and sign button. That’s what they’re planning on doing today.

“Ok, here’s what our final version ended up as.” Ed hands the contract to Harry.  Ed smiles and...if Luke didn’t know better, he recognizes that smile from watching Ed perform. Huh.

Harry begins to read the contract aloud. It’s not too long, just the standard stuff and then the expectations of both sides. Luke listens and watches Ed’s face and, if he’s not mistaken, he catches a few tells. It’s...odd. And disconcerting.

“Well, that sounds good to me,” Harry finishes up. Calum nods to, so Harry turns to Ed, “And you’re all good with this?”

Ed smiles and now Luke knows somethings going on. He runs a casino for God’s sake, he can spot a poker face. Ed speaks while Luke tries and puzzles it out, “Yep, my side is good.”

“Wait.” Luke says, trying to think things through, “Don’t sign it yet.”

Calum gives him a confused look while Ed laughs a bit anss, “I thought you were here as the husband.”

Luke looks up at him, “Yeah, well now I’m here as the casino manager.  Harry, did we add any clauses about the casino?”

Harry shakes his head, “No. Why would we though? We never do.”

“We normally don’t invite the best card manipulators in the world to our hotel. Add this,” Luke leans back and thinks up something to deter the guests from cheating. Ed’s face has gone blank. “All participants in the COC must sign a waiver upon hotel entrance that they will comply with Casino guidelines.”

“Which guidelines?” Ed asks, face solemn.

“All of them. No cards past the archway, no counting, no team based scams.”

Ed leans back and sticks Luke with a smile that anyone else in the room would think was amicable, “Well of course we’ll follow them, they’re posted aren’t they?”

Harry leans forward to look at Luke, “Luke, not to undermine you, but a waiver does seem a bit extreme.”

Luke watches Ed’s face. Luke knows about this, this is what Luke is hired to do. He knows he’s going to lose money the week they come in no matter what. He’s going to cut his losses, “Harry, trust me. If they don’t sign the waiver, I’m closing the casino that week.”

Everyone looks aghast except Ed. Ed had been playing this like they were a mark and now he’s finally coming around. This isn’t a card trick, this is poker, they're in Luke's domain now. And Ed doesn’t know if Luke’s bluffing or not. Later, when Luke gets home, he’s going to squeal that the got into a poker-esque negotiation with his idol. But for now, this is business. He sits up straighter in his chair and pulls at his collar to seem more sophisticated.

Ed grins, “You’ll lose money that way.”

Luke laughs, short with a bit of an edge, “Yeah, but a lot less than if I let you guys in there without a waiver.”

Louis leans forward, “I don’t see what difference a waiver would make?”

Calum responds for him. Luke feels proud because he knows at this point Calum has his back, “When people break the rules, we just throw them out. With a waiver, it’d be a breach of contract and we can sue.” Luke pats Calum’s thigh under the table as a sign of thanks.

The morning sunlight peeks in through the windows and lights Ed’s face up. Luke can tell the other guys sitting on either side of him are just prop pieces, that Ed is the only one with any deciding power.

Harry laughs nervously and turns to Luke, “But they’re already paying so much to stay with us...”

Luke cuts him off, “Harry, if we don’t do this, they’ll take a year’s worth of profits in one night.”

Ed stops him, “That’s a bit high, don’t you think?”

Luke turns back to Ed, “No, it’s not. When I wasn’t anywhere near my prime I could walk into any casino with $50 and walk out with five grand easy. And that was just for fun,” Luke turns back to Harry, “Imagine hundreds of people with that skill over a week. Even if they sign the waiver, we’re still going to lose money. Just a lot less.”

Ed pipes in. He probably thinks he has the upper hand with Harry being unsure, but he’s wrong. Luke lets him speak anyways, “I can always go somewhere else.”

Luke turns to him, “Look, Ed, all I want to prevent is card swapping, tag teaming, and counting. You still get mental manipulation which, with our other clientele, is half the game right there. I’m fine with you taking money from marks, but this hotel is not a mark, got it?”

The room stills as Ed mulls over Luke’s offer. Luke is being generous really, there aren’t many casinos that would even think of hosting the COC. Normally they go to convention centers in out of the way places. Luke went to one in Indiana when he was 25 and probably near his peak in terms of card manipulating skills. Since then, he’s gotten much better with the technicality side, the rules and strategies. It’s not a bad trade off is he’s about to bluff his way into getting Ed Sheeran to sign this new contract.

Ed leans forward in his seat, “Fine, we sign a waiver. But you don’t publicize the COC. As far an anyone else is concern, we are a week long conference for Indie musicians.”

Harry looks about ready to make the deal but Luke stops him with a hand. Luke makes eye contact with Ed, “If we do that, you make a statement during the opening banquet that no one can try and cheat the house.”

Ed takes his time to decide for that one. With a heavy sigh, he says “Deal. Add it to the contract. Anything else you want to add Hemmings?”

Luke smiles, “No, I think I’m good Sheeran.”

Harry looks out of his mind with relief as he adds the appropriate clauses, finalizes it, and then signs it with his fingertip before passing it to Ed then Calum. Luke, Louis and three of Ed’s guys witness it.

After it’s all signed and they’re standing near the doorway shaking hands, Ed turns to Luke with his arm outstretched, “I’m impressed.”

Luke grins, “Thanks. Just doing my job.”

Ed drops his hand and crosses his arms, “I’d love to play poker with you. You’d probably wipe the floor with me.”

Luke shrugs, “Not necessarily. I have a group I play with sometimes, with a few of the pit bosses and dealers. If you're ever around, you're welcome to join us.”

Ed smirks, “I take it back. It’s not too smart to invite a card manipulator to a poker game.”

Luke scratches the back of his neck, “It’s kind of why we play together, to make sure no one cheats. You’d probably feel right at home.”

Ed laughs and slaps a hand on Luke’s forearm, “Sounds great. Next time you’re playing and I’m in town, let me know.”

With that, Luke’s childhood idol walks away, hands in his pocket and a smile on his face. Luke watches him go down to stairwell, the red of Ed’s hair disappearing.

“Well, that was something,” Louis says when they’re all alone again, just the four of them.

“Luke,” Harry says, “I’m still confused over whether you just did a good thing or a bad thing. But I’m pretty sure it was good. It was good, right?”

Luke nods, “I just saved you millions of dollars, H.”

“Well,” Harry claps his hands together, “It’s official. We’re hosting the COC.”

Luke could cry he’s so happy. This day has just been everything he could’ve hoped for and more. An it can only get better, Luke overheard Calum inviting Ed to have dinner with them.

Calum is steady presence behind Luke. He’s been pretty silent since the meeting ended, just hovering behind Luke’s back. As they all walk down stairs and Luke turns to head for his office, Calum grabs Luke’s wrist and pulls him in the opposite direction.

“You’re coming to my office.” Calum insists.

Luke frowns, confused, “Why?”

Louis calls back from where he’s walking ahead with Harry, “I think he meant that you’re coming _in_ his office.” Louis snickers while Harry elbows him.

“We’re at work Lou,” But Luke can’t miss the smile on Harry’s face. Luke turns to see Calum giving Louis a half hearted glare.

“Don’t pretend you’re not going to roleplay it later guys. We know all your kinks.” That just makes the Tomlinsons blush while Luke is still kind of confused.

“Roleplay what?”

Harry turns to him and says like he’s flirting, “You were pretty hot back there Lukey. All commanding, it was quite sexy.”

Luke perks up at that and turns to Calum, “Was I?”

By this point, they’re just passing Calum’s office. Calum pulls back, dragging Luke with him, and waves at Louis and Harry, “Bye guys, see you later.” Louis smirks back over his shoulder and Luke would laugh but Calum is pulling him through the outer door of his office.

They stumble into the front room, Luke’s hands on Calum’s hips, and Ty bursts out laughing as soon as the door shuts behind them.

“I,” he starts as he stands from his desk, “am taking a long coffee break. Don’t break anything.” With that, Ty is out the door while Luke and Calum laugh after him.

It’s probably bad how close their staff is. Like, their relationships as friends shouldn’t be so entwined with work. Or maybe that’s what makes their hotel great. Maybe the fact that their bosses are ok with them stealing a few minutes for themselves to celebrate is a good thing. Maybe they wouldn’t work so well together if they just saw each other as business partners. Maybe it’s the friendship that’s the oil to the cogs of their machine. Luke’s happy with that as he backs Calum up to the desk, chasing the laughter from Calum’s lips.

“Want to fuck me against the desk babe?” Calum asks between kisses.

Luke can do that.

*****

 

“Hey,” Calum grips Luke’s shoulder as he comes up to stand beside them. “It’s going well, right?”

Calum looks even more stressed than Luke at this point, as he should. Everyone had been worried about Luke, thinking he was going to run away with all the card manipulators. But it’s Calum who had to actually run the event. Sure, Luke helped, but it was Calum’s job.

Luke surveys the ball room. It’s filled with circular tables with white table clothes, a simple elegant look for the night. It looks kind of like how it did when Luke and Calum got married, just a little bit more subdued. The guests are all dressed up in suits and gowns. Calum and Luke are standing to the side, surveying the guests as they sit for the opening of the convention. Luke grabs Calum’s hand.

“Yeah Cal, it’s perfect.” Luke gives Calum a kiss and hopes it calms him down a bit. He really did do a good job. Luke’s proud in a way he never knew he could be of another person.

“Ed’s taking the stage, pay attention.” Ashton elbows Luke. Luke turns his gaze up to Ed, standing behind the podium.

“Hello everyone and welcome to the 25th annual Convention of Concealment.” The room erupts in applause and Luke can’t help but squeeze Calum’s hand a bit tighter. Partially to ground Calum and partially because Luke is jumping out of his skin.

“Now before we start our night out, I am contractually required to tell you something.” Ed looks over in their direction. His hair is starting to grey and Luke loves poking fun at him about it. Ed smirks while Calum chuckles next to Luke.

“You all signed contracts when you picked up your passes this afternoon, correct?” Ed waits a beat while there’s a murmur of yes around the large ballroom. “Good. What that says is that you agree to stand by all casino guideline. That means no cards in the casino, no group work, and no counting. Let’s play fair and square everyone.” There’s a murmur of laughter as everyone laughs as Ed winks when he says it. But then Ed straightens up and adopts a more serious expression, “On a more serious note, the casino is not a mark. The people in it are fair game, but don’t try and cheat the house. We know what all of you are capable of, so show some self restraint.” Ed looks back over to where Luke is standing, “And show some respect. The guy in charge of the casino is a good friend of mine and certainly no mark. He’s one of us.” Ed grins and raises his glass of water in Luke’s direction. A few people in the audience clap and Ed continues his speech.

Calum rests his head against Luke’s shoulder with a wide grin across his face. Luke gives Calum’s forehead a peck and figures this is a moment he’ll remember for a long time.

 

**Queen of Spades**

****

It’s Calum and Luke’s day off and they’re just sitting around the apartment. Calum’s sitting on the couch with his laptop and Luke’s reading a poker rule book in the chair across from him. They went out to lunch, getting out of the hotel for the first time in two weeks, and then walked around Vegas for a bit. Eventually the heat got to them and they headed home for an afternoon in.

Luke’s been thinking lately. And he hasn’t been able to talk to Calum about it because he kind of has an idea of what Calum will say. It won’t be a pretty fight. They’ve been married for a little over two years now and they’ve talked through a lot of the big things that might come up in their marriage. But Luke’s allowed to change his mind. And he has, kind of. It’s just that Calum probably hasn’t.

Luke and Calum have been just fine lately. Just fine. They hardly see each other five days a week and then spend their two days off constantly together. It’s not the best set up, most of their conversations are just catch ups, ‘how was your meeting?’ or ‘did you hear about that guest Ash had to deal with?’ They haven’t been able to really talk about them, their relationship, what they want. And Luke wants something.

“Hey Cal?” Luke starts, voice rusty and unsure.

“Yeah babe?” Calum doesn’t look up from his laptop, just continues scrolling.

“What do you think about getting a dog?” Luke asks hesitantly.

Calum sighs and closes his laptop screen, looking over at Luke. “Luke...”

“I know what we said,” Luke cuts him off, “but there’s no way we’re busier than Harry and Lou and they have Toto. He worked out just fine for them.”

“Because other people are always taking him. When was the last time you saw Harry or Lou take him for a walk? It’s always one of us or Ash offering to watch him.”

Luke crosses his arms and buries himself into the chair deeper. “Exactly. If we got a dog it would get the same treatment. It wouldn’t be just us taking care of it.”

Calum rests his head in his hand. He sounds exhausted when he speaks, “We’ve had this conversation so many times before Luke.”

“A dog isn’t a kid Calum,” Luke says harshly, “I’m not asking for a baby, I just want a dog.”

“Really? Down the line you’re not going to say ‘hey Calum, we handled the dog, lets get a baby?” Calum sits up on the couch making exaggerated motions with his arms. Luke pushes back further into his chair.

Luke’s voice is small when he speaks, “I agreed with you.” Calum’s shoulders relax a bit at that. “You made sense when you said why we shouldn’t adopt, I know that. And I agreed to that. That doesn’t mean I don’t want something to take care of.”

Calum huffs a bit, “You’ve got a whole casino.”

Luke sits up, “A casino can’t love me back.” Calum’s face is set in a tight grimace. Luke knows he’s already lost, “I just want a dog Calum. We can do it, we can take him to work and we can get one small enough to do the litter box like Harry and Lou. We’re adults, we can take care of one dog.”

Calum puts his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. They sit like that for a bit, Luke tense in his chair and Calum silent on the couch. It’s not the first time they’ve had this charged discussion.

Luke had never really thought about having kids. It just wasn't on his radar until he was a month away from getting married and his mother had asked about grand children. Calum had put his foot down from the beginning. He refused because he didn’t see a way for them to be able to keep working while raising a child. Calum said he wasn’t the type to dump a baby off on a nanny. Luke suspects there was something else in it, some past memories that Calum still doesn’t share with Luke of him growing up. Luke doens’t know much about Calum’s life before he left Seattle. Calum's given snatches of his childhood, but Luke knows is mostly sad and upsets Calum, so Luke doesn’t pry. But he agreed with Calum, no kids. And it didn't seem like Luke was giving much up at the time, the hotel was their child.

But Luke didn’t realize that pretty soon the apartment would feel empty. That after being together for five years, it’s not that Calum isn’t enough. It’s just that Luke wants even more. He wants someone else in the apartment with him and Calum, a reason to not have sex on the kitchen counter. It didn’t help when Harry and Louis got Toto. Spending time with Toto made Luke want something as cuddly and warm in his life too.

“No.” Calum finally says. “I don’t want to get a dog. I think it’s a bad idea. That’s what I think.”

Luke’s heart feels heavy in his chest. All the dreams he had of coming home to find Calum and a little beagle snuggled together on the couch vanish. The happy Calum in his dreams drifts away.

They just can’t keep doing this by themselves. Luke is constantly afraid one of them is going to get bored of the other. They’ve spent to much time alone in the same room. All Luke wants to do is love something with Calum, together, to make them stronger. There’s too much silence in their apartment.

“Fine. I’m going to Harrys.” Luke stands up and puts his book on the table near the stairs.

“Luke.” Calum calls after him, but Luke doesn’t want to hear it.

“Stop Cal.” Luke turns so he’s standing behind the couch and Calum has to move his body to look at him. Luke’s voice starts to crack as he speaks, “I get it. I’m sorry that I wanted to raise something and love something with you. I’m sorry you don’t think we’d be good at it. I’m sorry that sometimes I just want to tuck someone in to sleep, ok? I agreed with you but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Calum’s face crumbles as he watches Luke. He starts to stand up but Luke stops him. Luke can’t even look at him, instead choosing to stare at the ground and try to keep the quiver out of his voice, “No. I’m going to talk to Harry. I’ll be back, I just need to talk to someone who’s not you right now.”

Luke doesn’t look up again, just turns to the door and grabs Harry’s and their keys out of the key bowl. When he opens the door, he doesn’t hear the sound of foot steps behind him. So Calum listened. Luke doesn’t know if he’s happy about that or not because all he really wants to do is curl up with Calum, have him tell Luke that they’ll get through this intact.

Halfway to Harry’s, Luke’s phone starts ringing. It’s Mikey’s ring tone. Luke sighs, as much as he loves Mikey, it’s Harry who he wants to talk to right now. Luke picks up and tries to sound cheerful, leaning against the wall outside Hayley’s apartment to talk.

“Hey Mikey.” Luke waits for Mikey’s loud voice to come in, happy and the opposite of how Luke is feeling. But it doesn’t happen.

“Luke?” Mikey says over the phone, his voice soft and wavering.

“Mikey? What’s going on? Are you ok?”

“Uh, no. I’m not. She’s...she’s gone Luke.” Mikey’s voice is cold on the last words.

Luke’s knees give out and he falls to the floor, back against the wall. Gone? Like...gone? It can’t be true. Luke called just a few days ago and she was fine. Feeling better even. She can’t be gone.

Mikey starts speaking again, “I don’t know what happened. She was taking her medicine and...I thought she had at least a few more years in her. I don’t...I don’t know what to do Luke.” Mikey’s voice sounds clogged with tears he’s holding back.

“Where are you?” Luke asks.

“Her house, Sarah’s in the next room calling mom. I just...” Mikey takes a deep breath, “Shit. The paramedics just came and took the...her.” Mikey swallows over the phone.

“You didn’t...” Luke can’t even finish the sentence.

“No, it was the nurse. She called us after the police and we came as soon as we could.”

Luke feels numb. Like he’s not in his body, all the sensations he normally feels are gone. It’s just a loop of gone running through his head.

“I just figured...” Mikey continues, “You needed to hear it from me. So I called.”

“Thanks.” Luke’s voice comes out with no emotion.

“I think I have to go. Sarah’s done talking. I...I can’t believe this Luke. This is....”

“I know.” Luke interrupts because he does know. Gladdie was immortal to him. “I know Mikey. Keep me posted, ok?”

“Will do. Bye Luke.”

“Bye Mikey.”

The dial tone clicks when Mikey hangs up. Luke can’t really move the phone from the side of his face. He just listens to the noise, the only thing keeping him from falling apart on the floor of the hallway. He closes his eyes, listening to the steady buzz.

It’s so unfair. He didn’t really even get to say good bye when they last spoke. He had been on a lunch break and Zayn had needed help with something so he’d told Gladdie he needed to go. Gladdie had just said ‘of course dear, you’ve got more important things to do than talk to me’ to which he’d replied ‘nothing as important as you’ before hanging up. He can’t even remember the last time he thanked her for anything, let alone everything. He owes everything to her and he never got to tell her how grateful he is.

Luke needs Calum. Right now. He needs Calum to lie to him and say that it will be ok. That just because it feels like part of Luke’s soul is decaying, he’ll be fine eventually. That Luke can live in a world without Gladys Mckee on speed dial. Luke’s not sure that’s possible. He’s never really had to live that life.

Luke struggles to his feet and walks down to his door, slowly losing the numb feeling. All the emotions are rushing back into his body like the blood rushing to his head. He fiddles with the key in the slot on the door and has to rest his head against the frame for a second. He takes a few deep breathes, willing his hands to stop shaking, and finally opens the door.

“Luke?” Calum calls from the kitchen. He sounds hopeful, happy to hear Luke. Luke remembers they were fighting just a few minutes ago and then pushes it to the back of his mind because he can’t be fighting with Calum right now. He needs Calum.

Calum’s head peeks out from the doorway as Luke throws the key cards in the bowl. He hasn’t really moved past shutting the door behind him. Luke’s just standing there, in the middle of the small hallway, when Calum catches sight of him.

Calum’s hopeful look quickly turns to confusion when he sees Luke. Luke has no idea how much of what he’s feeling is written on his face, but Calum’s always been good at reading him anyways, “Babe?”

And that’s when the first sob breaks from Luke’s throat. He’s not expecting it, so used to keeping them down, locked in his throat for so many years. He doesn’t know the feeling of one escaping. But as soon as it’s out, the rest follow and Luke is standing there with a palm over his mouth and his shoulders shaking.

Calum hesitates before walking to Luke and pulling him in. Calum makes low, calming noises as he rubs Luke’s back. Luke tucks his head into Calum’s neck, letting the tears fall into Calum’s shirt collar.

Calum starts speaking quietly to Luke, “I’m sorry babe. I didn’t realize it meant so much to you.” Luke starts shaking his head because anything that happened before isn’t important anymore, none of that matters. But Calum doesn’t seem to understand that, just wants to try and placate Luke, “I shouldn’t have shut you down. We can talk about it more, yeah?”

“No,” Luke says through a sob, arms wrapping tight around Calum’s waist. He just needs Calum to see that his world has completely changed.

“No?” Calum says, hand stilling on Luke’s back. “We can Luke. It’d be best for-”

“It’s Gladdie,” Luke says, the tears slowing and just the damp tracks left on his face. He keeps his head on Calum’s shoulder as Calum tenses.

“What?”

“She’s gone.” Luke’s voice cracks on the _gone_ because he still can’t believe it.

Calum is silent. Luke can feel his mind working and trying to process. “What?” The word comes out harsh and full of disbelief.

“Mikey called. They...she’s gone,” Luke mumbles into Calum’s neck.

Calum doesn’t move for a second, his shoulders held up high, but then he breathes out on a long exhale. Calum’s hands, which had previously been idle on Luke’s back, move. Luke feels one hand coming up to tangle in his hair and the other grips around Luke’s shoulders, Calum pulling Luke so close into his body. The air shifts and Luke feels like the color grey.

“I’m so sorry Luke.” Calum’s lips brush against Luke’s temple when he speaks. Luke needs it so much. Calum’s grip is the only thing holding him together right now.

Luke was sixteen when he came out to Gladdie. She had been the first person he had talked to about it, trying to sort through the thoughts in his head. She had been confused at first, not understanding what he meant when he said he was attracted to men. And he had explained his feelings, she had asked her questions. It had been almost analytical, like breaking down a bridge hand. She had sighed at the end, saying, ‘Guess you won’t be marrying Sarah. There goes that plan,’ and they had laughed and Luke had felt a little bit better about himself.

Calum, still gripping onto Luke’s shoulders with one arm, brings Luke over to the couch. Luke lies down and Calum lies right on top of him, a human blanket that wraps tightly around Luke, holding him in. Luke just turns his head to stare at the coffee table.

Gladdie’s gone. It’s slowly seeping in. He’s never going to talk to her again. He’s not going to get calls at the worst times of day. He’s not going to get yelled at or smacked gently with her cane. It’s all done. Just like that.

Calum is stroking his thumb along Luke’s collar bone. Luke can feel Calum’s eyes watching his chin, waiting for him to look at Calum, to need to talk. And he will, but first he needs to sort through all the different thoughts and feelings swirling around in his head.

Luke cries two more times as the sky turns dark. The first time is gentle tears that Calum wipes away with soft brushes of his fingers and lips. Luke can tell that Calum is avoiding thinking about Gladdie to focus on Luke. And that’s kind of shit. Luke can’t believe anyone in the world can be doing anything but think about Gladdie right now. And here’s Calum, worried about his husband when it’s Gladdie. Calum should be just as distraught, if not more so, since he didn’t get to know her nearly as long as Luke.

And that’s what starts up the second round of tears. Luke can’t stop thinking about all the people walking about who will be able to focus on something that isn’t Gladdie, the people who’s lives will keep on going and this won’t be catastrophic. And Calum’s just sitting there, one hand on Luke’s ribs and the other is cradled around Luke’s head.

Luke turns his body to be as small as he can be. Calum wraps around him, petting his hair while Luke sobs into his chest. The cards in Luke’s pocket feel heavy and uncomfortable. His body feels too big to fit in next to Calum. He stays anyways.

Luke’s not thinking in time so he doesn’t know if it’s late or early or what when they hear the door open. It’s Hayley, her heels tapping as she walks into the apartment. “Where are you guys?” Her voice echoes and she looks for them, “I brought food.”

Calum’s voice cracks when he speaks, “In here.”

Luke buries himself into Calum’s body, trying to hide form the world for just a bit because he can’t face this, whatever this is. He needs at least the rest of the night to mourn and reflect but after that he’ll be fine. He doesn’t want anyone to see him like this, but knowing his friends they’ll all be over as soon as Hayley touches her phone.

“You’ll never guess what...” Hayley trails off as she falls into an armchair. “Luke?”

Luke doesn’t respond, and Calum seems even less willing to let him. Calum’s arms curl tighter, hiding Luke from Hayley. Neither of them speak but Luke can guess Hayley is trying to make eye contact with Calum.

“What happened?” She finally says sharply.

“Gladdie died today,” Calum says plainly. It’s a punch to Luke’s gut.

Luke had been thinking in terms of gone and never again but hearing Calum say the actual word, died, it makes everything seem so much more real. It’s definite. Gone is the title of the song about your lover leaving. But death...death is a funeral and black dresses. Luke sobers at the thought.

“Honey,” Hayley says softly behind him, pulling forward to sit on the ground in front of the couch. Her hand rests gently against Luke’s back for only a second before Luke is sitting up. He moves quickly out of both of their reach, standing and shaking himself out of the feelings.

“I’m fine.” Luke says while wiping away the leftover tears. He brushes hair off his head and stares down at Calum and Hayley. Hayley has big sad eyes, her knees tucked under her and her hand on the couch where he just was. Calum’s body is long and laid out, his expression more puzzled that Luke is no longer next to him. Luke can see where his body fit into the spaces of Calum’s. “It’s fine.”

Hayley stands up and hugs him anyways. She clamps her arms around his back and he just drapes his arms lightly around her shoulders. She’s rubbing his back but it just makes Luke feel jittery. He needs to do something. He needs to not be sitting still with their eyes on him. It happened. She’s dead. He cried. He’s done.

“Thanks,” Luke says quietly as he extracts himself from Hayley’s arms. She just looks up at him with pity. Why is it pity? Where is her sadness? Why is she not upset that Gladdie is gone? He tries to think up an excuse to get out of the room, “I think I’m just going to call it a night. I’ve got to get up early for work tomorrow anyways.”

Hayley pounces immediately, “You’re not going to work tomorrow.” She says, eyes suddenly turning sharper.

“Yes I am.” Luke says, confusion in his tone. He knows why Hayley wouldn’t want him to go in, but that’s not stopping him.

“Luke, you can’t. You’re grieving.” Hayley says softly. Calum is sitting up on the couch now, watching. His face is blank and his eyes are carefully following the shifts in Luke’s face. “Calum. Tell him he can’t go in.”

Calum hesitates before speaking, and then turns to Luke, “You want to?”

“Yes.” Luke sounds a bit desperate. He really wants to go in tomorrow. He just needs to fucking do something that will get his mind off the string of thoughts circling through his mind over and over.

“It’ll be ok Hayley.” Calum says and gets up, walking to Luke and putting a hand on his hip, squeezing gently. “I’ll be upstairs.” Calum gives Hayley a wilted wave and walks to the stairwell.

Luke glances back down at Hayley. She looks a little upset that she’s being kicked out, a little confused as to why, a little mad at Luke, but also a little sad for him to. Luke just tucks his hands under his armpits and hugs himself. “I’m fine. I’ll be good for work tomorrow, I promise.” He tries to smile but even the effort hurts him too much.

Hayley grimaces. “You know I’ve got to tell everyone, right?”

Luke nods his head a few times, “Probably better that way.” Hayley rubs his shoulder a few times before bending to collect her things from the coffee table. “Can you tell them not to come tonight, though? I’m just-”

“Yeah. I can do that.” Hayley says. She kisses him on the cheek and starts walking to the doorway, her bag of food and purse bouncing against her side. “Bye love.”

“Thanks. Good night.” Luke watches as she walks out the door. He stands there, in his living room, for a few minutes more. He hasn’t painted the walls once in the six years he's lived here. There are pictures hung on the walls, one of Mikey, Calum, and Ashton that Luke took when they went out one night. There’s another of Luke, Harry, Ashton, and Hayley on opening day, the four of them tucked in close together in front of the giant bow in the lobby. There are a few art pieces too, gifts from Harry for birthdays and Christmases until Calum told Harry that Luke didn’t particularly love art that wasn’t card related. Luke and Calum had kept them up though, they added an air of sophistication to the room.

On the little table that stands near the stairwell, there’s a picture stood up in a frame next to a stack of Luke and Calum’s books. It’s a picture from their wedding, Luke’s arm looped around Gladdie’s shoulders as she stood in her white, maid of honor dress. Her arm had reached up to rest gently on his waist. Luke had been trying to convince her to dance with him and she’d been resolutely refusing. Their hired photographer had walked up at that point and asked if Luke wanted a picture with his grandmother. Neither of them had corrected her.

Luke pauses to look at the picture. Gladdie never smiled like that in every day life. She pouted, grinned, smirked, frowned, grimaced. But the only time Luke ever saw a smile, a smile like this with her cheeks pushed up, was when someone asked for her picture. She’d huff and try to get out of it before posing. Luke wishes he had a few pictures of the real Gladdie, not the image she was always trying to protect. He wants a picture of her with her arms crossed and her eyes sharp, not this.

As Luke moves away, he turns the picture down. He walks slowly up the stairs, each footfall echoing in the quiet air. Their home is so silent now.

Their room light is off but Calum’s reading lamp is on. Calum’s sitting up in bed, staring down at his phone with his fingers typing. He looks up when Luke stands in the doorway.

“Who are you texting?” Luke asks, a part of him curious and a part of him wanting to fill up the space with words.

Calum puts the phone on his bed side table and draws his knees up. There’s a wide space between his legs and Luke could easily fit in, would normally do so, and Luke knows Calum’s trying to be inviting. But Luke doesn’t need him now.

Calum holds eye contact for a few moments and when he recognizes that Luke won’t be diving in, speaks, “Mikey. He wanted to let us know the funeral would be next Wednesday.”

“Why didn’t he text me?” Luke’s words are sharp and he feels his expression turn to a disapproving one. Calum doesn’t lose his patience though, just slides under the covers.

“He did.” Calum turns off his bed side lamp. “That’s your phone.”

Luke lets it settle a second before attacking again, “Why were you looking at my messages?”

Calum sighs in the dark, the only light reflecting his features is the fluorescent glow of the neon outside, “Luke, come to bed.”

Luke immediately does, stripping out of his jeans and joining Calum beneath the sheets. Luke reaches out and takes Calum’s hand, needing to hold on to something real for a moment. Calum clutches back, a hand on each side of Luke’s, thumbs rubbing softly into the skin.

“It’s going to be ok.” Calum whispers into the night. Luke cringes because it’s the first time out of many that he’ll hear it. He wonders when it will stop sounding like a lie. Maybe it never will.

 

*****

****

The alarm blares early the next morning. It’s Calum’s, so Luke can technically sleep for another hour and fifteen minutes if he wants, but he blinks his eyes open and catches sight of Calum’s back heading to their bathroom. The shower turns on a few moments later.

Luke groans. Gladdie’s dead. It hits him like a baseball bat somewhere mid gut. He pulls himself out of the sheets, sitting on the edge to gather his thoughts. He has his head in his hands and the sound of the shower coming from the bathroom. Luke’s a bit light headed, probably from not eating at all the night before. He ignores it and decides to join Calum.

Luke quickly strips and walks to the bathroom, the steam rushing out as he opens the door. They have slate tile floors and a granite vanity sink covered in their various hair products. Luke can't see his face through the fog on the mirror.

“Babe?” Calum squeaks from the shower. Luke opes the frosted glass shower door and steps in.

It’s not a huge shower. They have a bath tub across from the toilet so the shower is tucked up in the remaining space. But there’s still enough room for the two of them, space enough that their bodies don’t need to touch. Calum glances back and raises an eyebrow at Luke. Luke moves up behind him and rests his chin on Calum’s shoulder, his arms wrapping around Calum’s waist as Calum runs a bar of soap along his body. He glides the bar over the skin of Luke’s arms, over and over again as if to calm Luke.

They’ve never showered together without having sex. Of course, they also haven’t showered together since those first few months of marriage. Everything has become so much more routine for them as they grow older and together. Luke doesn’t know how to tell Calum that he’s not up for it this morning, but Luke’s pretty sure he won’t even have to say it. Calum will just know.

“You okay?” Calum asks.

“Yeah. Just need cuddles.” Luke responds.

“I can help with that.” Calum turns around in Luke’s arms and they hold each other. They’re half under the water and it feels good against Luke’s skin. Calum’s fingers run up and down Luke’s back, over the different bones of his spine. Luke relaxes into it, resting his face on Calum’s shoulder, letting some of the pain wash down the drain with the bubbles.

 

*****

 

“Hey,” Beth, his secretary, says as he opens his office door. He can already tell it’s going to be a long day. Beth is getting up out of her seat and coming to hug him.

“Good morning,” Luke says as Beth stands on her tiptoes and  pulls him down. He couldn’t help but notice the pity, that damn pity again, in her eyes. He tries not to spill some of his to go mug of coffee on her.

“You’re doing ok?” She pulls back and asks, eyes downcast and lips pouted.

“I’m fine,” Luke steps back and out of her hands. “Or, I will be. I just don’t want to think about it.”

Beth frowns, “I better warn you then. The welcoming committee is set up in your office.”

Luke grimaces, “I wouldn’t have expected anything less.”

Beth gives him another pitying smile and goes back to her desk. Luke straightens his posture and goes to face his friends.

It’s quiet when Luke opens the door. Zayn, unexpectedly, is at his desk talking to Louis, who is sitting on the edge. Harry and Ashton are hushed and talking in the middle of the room. Luke doesn’t know if they’re talking about him or not. Everyone’s eyes dart up when he walks in.

As expected, Harry pounces first, pushing Luke back with the force of his hug. Luke, again, attempts not to spill any coffee but he’s pretty sure some of it falls on the carpet. Luke waves to his other friends behind Harry’s back before giving into the hug.

“I’m ok, H. Promise.” Luke says quietly. Harry pulls back but keeps a hand on Luke’s shoulder.

“Luke, the only reason why I’m not forcing you to take time off is because Calum said it wasn’t a good idea. But seriously, if you need any time at all, just let us know, we can cover.” Harry’s eyes are so wide. Luke flinches at the sheer amount of pity.

“I’m not trusting you with my casino,” Luke attempts the bad joke. No one laughs.  The forced grin slides off his face, “Yeah. Thanks Harry. The funeral is next Wednesday-”

“Already covered.” Harry says. “And Thursday too, for you and Calum. So don’t feel you need to rush back.”

Luke swallows, trying to force down the ball in his windpipe, “When did you talk to Calum?”

Louis responds, “This morning. I’m so sorry Luke.”

“I’ll be fine. Promise.”

“You are fine?” Harry probes, “Or you will be fine? Because, as much as I care for you, I’m also running a business.” Luke’s not sure if it’s all a joke, partially a joke, or just genuine.

“I am fine.” Luke states, finally making his way past them all to his desk, setting his coffee down and firing up his computer. He turns back to the group, propping a hip on the corner of his desk. “I just...need to be here. It’d be worse without a distraction.” He gives them a tight smile.

“Well, then I guess we’re off.” Louis says, pushing off from Zayn’s desk and pulling Harry out by the elbow. Ashton, who has yet to speak a word, brushes a hand against Luke shoulder before leaving. Ashton’s always been bad at sadness, he’s too good at happy to know how to handle people who are downtrodden.

The air stills after they all leave. Luke looks over to Zayn. Zayn is staring back, eyes wide and full of questions more than pity. He rubs at his bottom lip for a second before asking Luke, “You really good, man?”

Luke nods a few times, neck stiff with the motion, “Yeah, now tell me about the new dealers.”

****

*****

 

It happens on Saturday. Zayn took Friday and Saturday off to make up for having to work on his days off two weeks in a row. Yesterday, Harry had been in and out every once in awhile, seeing if Luke needed anything. And Luke didn’t need anything. Yesterday he was fine.

But it’s 2:30 in the afternoon and Luke can’t breathe. There’s no more work to do. He did everything he can possibly think of that he can do in his office. Normally at this point in the day, whenever he finishes replying to all his emails and sorting out schedules, he just goes out to the floor for a few hours to let more office work build up. He can’t do that now.

Luke found that being on the floor makes him a bit sick. It’s the people. There are people shouting with excitement over winning a big pot, people who are down about losing. Worse are the people who are just content. The significant others standing behind the chairs with fond smiles or the friends laughing over a joke together at the bar. Luke can’t deal with this today.

He remembers being content. He remembers going through the motions of waking up every day, stopping by Calum’s office to kiss him good morning, and then heading to work until the night was over. Hell, Luke can even remember being happy; that thrill that would go up his spine when he mastered a new trick. Luke would run to Calum and sprawl on top of him until Calum was thoroughly impressed.

It feels like so long ago. That feeling feels foreign to Luke. Gladdie has been dead for five days and he can’t remember the smell of her perfume. He wonders what memory he’ll lose next. The loss sits deep in his gut and he wonders if it will ever shrink. Or maybe it will be something he’ll have to learn to live with, something that he’ll carefully skirt around and never look at.

Luke has been practicing cuts for the last ten minutes and it’s not getting better. That instant soothing feeling that cards once provoked is gone. If anything, he’s worse off because his mind keeps wandering to the little tips Gladdie would tell him. He remembers the first time he fooled her with a card trick. He’s pretty sure she knew what he was doing and played along anyways. Of course, the next time he performed the trick, she messed with him and told him all the mistakes he'd made. She was that type of woman.

Luke drops the cards. He can’t hear the slap anymore. He leans over the desk and rests his head in his hands, trying to be fine. He’s trying so hard. Before the feeling of tears turns into actual tears, he picks up the phone and dials Calum’s desk extension.

“Luke?” Calum picks up almost immediately. “What’s up?”

Luke know his voice is going to come out wrong, all teary and worn, “Are you busy?”

“I’ll be right there.” Calum hangs up and Luke is met with the dial tone. He hangs the phone up immediately, the noise to familiar to him at this point.

Luke wipes his eyes. He hasn’t been crying but he doesn’t know how he looks. He could look like a mess and then Calum would be worried for no reason. He fiddles with his desk, realigning his calendar and brushing imaginary fuzz off his keyboard. Calum shows up not a minute later.

Luke hears him come in the door. Beth doesn’t work on Saturdays so there’s no greetings to stop Calum from opening the inner office door. Calum rips it open, startling Luke with how quickly, but then stands in the doorway. His face is full of concern and he’s frozen with his hand on the door knob and his other fist clenched. Luke loves him.

Luke clears his throat, “Sorry if you were busy.”

Calum jolts out of his pause and closes the door, walking slowly to Luke. Luke pushes his chair back and Calum positions himself in between the desk and Luke’s big office chair, propping his bum on the edge. Calum leans down and kisses Luke just once, softly, and drags one of his hands to the back of Luke’s neck, kneading the skin there.

“Lou understands.” Calum breathes, forehead still against Luke’s.

“Calum,” Luke trails off afterwards. He doesn’t really know how to ask for what he wants.

“Yeah?”

Luke hesitates but then hold his arms out. Calum takes a second, but then seems to understand. Calum folds himself up and sits in Luke’s lap, tucking his face into Luke’s neck. Luke wraps his arms around Calum, one around his shoulders, the other wrapping around Calum’s waist. Calum turns into it the best that he can.

It’s not often they do this. Luke is the one who likes to be small, to curl up and be held by Calum. If anything, they’re mostly equals, always wrapped around each other, taking advantage of their heights to get the most skin touching. But there have been few times where Calum has shrunk and let Luke hold him. And Luke doesn’t know why he needs this right now, but he really needs to hold on. He needs to sit here and grasp Calum close to his chest because he’ll never be able to do it with Gladdie again.

“Better?” Calum breathes out against Luke’s neck.

“Better.” Luke agrees. But he doesn’t let go.

****

*****

 

“Luke.” Sarah says, drawing Luke in. If Luke had been straight, they would’ve been good together. Gladdie would’ve loved it. Sarah has always been soft with her hugs, her small body lightly resting against her partner. Luke always thought it would be a great mom hug.

They’re at calling hours on Tuesday. Calum is behind Luke, waiting patiently for their hug to end. Luke pulls back a small bit. Sarah is smiling sadly at him.

“You should be standing up here with us,” she says, the corners of her mouth puckering as she holds back a sob, “you were just as much her grandchild as me and Mikey.”

Luke shakes his head, “Nah, that’s something only the blood grandchildren get to do.” He finds himself holding back some emotions as well. Calum is right behind him, a hand on his lower back as a reminder he’s there.

“My condolences,” Calum says softly to Sarah before moving to the next person in line. Luke and Sarah are taking more than the standard minute or less for the receiving line. Luke catches, out of the corner of his eye, the sight of Calum hugging the next person in line. There is a shock of red hair peeking out over Calum’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” Sarah says, gently rubbing his shoulder, a thing many people have been doing to him lately. He doesn’t know why, does his shoulder look like it needs rubbing? Or is that just something you do to someone who can barely breathe sometimes?

“You too,” he says softly before kissing the top of her hair. With sad half smiles, they nod at each other and Luke moves forward in line.

Mikey is not crying when Luke turns to him. If anything, Mikey looks happy to see him. But it seems that Mikey realizes why they’re at a funeral home, why Luke is in his best black suit, why the persistent smell of flower arrangements is clogging the air, all at once. It gets to Luke too.

They stumble into a tight hug immediately. By the time Luke’s arm is clamped securely behind Mikey’s back, they’re both crying into each other’s shoulders. It’s like the amount of grief they’re going through is intensified by the mere reminder of the other’s pain. So they cry together, they cry because they’er both hurting more than they ever thought imaginable.

Luke doesn’t know how long it goes on but he can feel people moving past him and Mikey, letting them grieve together. Luke pulls away when the tears have run silent and they’re just holding each other more than anything else. “Hey Mikey.”

“Good to see you Luke.” Mikey says, eyes rimmed the same color as his bright hair and bitten lips. Luke guesses Mikey’s been holding the tears in all week. “Have you seen her yet?”

“No.” Luke replies, voice collapsing on the word so it’s more of a noise than a clear word.

Mikey shakes his head and grimaces, “It’s terrible. She doesn’t look like herself at all. Aunt Betty was in charge of it.” Mikey has turned annoyed.

“Oh.” Gladdie’s daughter Bettie had always been the most removed of the family. Luke had only met her once.

“Let’s go.” Mikey tilts his head in the direction of the viewing room.

Luke still doesn’t understand why Gladdie wanted an open casket at her calling hours. Apparently she was adamant on several occasions, sometimes joking and other times much more serious. Luke’s heart is beating because he’s afraid to see her. Luke’s afraid if he sees her like this, it will be the only memory of her face he’ll be able to keep.

There’s so much wood everywhere. Paneling, hard wood floors, old wooden chairs and furniture sets. It all clashes terribly and Luke briefly wonders why someone hasn’t done something about it. But then he sees the wooden casket and he stops focusing on anything else.

Mikey approaches her slowly, swallowing loudly before taking the last step. Luke follows a step behind.

It’s not as bad as Mikey said. But it is quite bad. Gladdie’s hair is all poufed up around her face and she has far too much blush on. They picked a good dress though, her favorite one that she would wear out to tournaments. Her hands are placed gently on her tummy. Luke wishes Gladdie were here to see just how bad it is. She’d laugh. So he does.

It’s just a little giggle. But somehow it turns into something heartier. Luke can feel Mikey’s eyes on the side of his face, but he can’t stop. The laugh turns crazed and suddenly Luke is crying again, sobs wracking his chest as he holds onto Mikey’s shoulder and covers his mouth with his other hand.

Calum’s behind him as soon as the first sob escapes. Calum’s arms wrap around Luke’s waist and his head is against Luke’s shoulder. It’s a steadying presence against Luke’s back, and Calum pets Luke’s stomach as he learns how to breathe again. Luke is feeling far too many emotions at once so he just focuses on the beat of Calum’s hand against his stomach and warmth of Calum’s breath on his neck.

Eventually, Luke can speak again, “She would hate this.” Luke turns to Mikey and sees a few more tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

“Yeah,” Mikey says, nodding his head slightly, “yeah she would.”

Luke reaches down into his pocket and pulls out the deck of cards from his very first ambitious card trick, Gladdie’s signature on a worn seven of spades with the date back in 2011. She had called him out on some sloppy cuts after. He had learned.

Luke riffles the cards one last time, wondering if he should just keep them. A part of him wants them, to hang her card up on a wall in a giant gilded frame. But he brought these for a reason. He gives back the decks as gifts to show how much he loves a person.

Calum watches over Luke’s shoulder, hands clasped rather than moving. Luke bumps his forehead against Calum’s, grounding himself, before he leans forward. He tucks the cards into the satin next to Gladdie’s right elbow. He hopes that even though the gesture was too late, she still knew how much he loved her.

****

*****

 

The night after the funeral, Luke dreams. He dreams he’s still at the funeral home and he’s outside the terrible room with all the wood. He walks in and sees an open casket. Dream Luke walks up to the casket, expecting to see Gladdie, but it’s Calum lying there.

Dream Calum’s skin is pale and his lips chapped. Dream Luke is frozen, his body splitting a part into tiny fragments. It all feels so real. Dream Luke slowly reaches his hands out and tries to wake Dream Calum. Dream Luke runs his palm softly down Dream Calum’s chest, whispering to Dream Calum to wake up. When that doesn’t work, Dream Luke starts prodding and screaming, even trying to kiss Dream Calum awake like he’s Snow White. But Dream Luke pulls away and no life rushes to Dream Calum’s face.

Luke jolts awake, sitting up and breathing heavily as he comes back to reality. He’s in his parent’s house, his old room turned into a guest room even though he’s really the only one who uses it. Calum’s suitcase is open over on the dresser and they have sweatpants and T-shirts piled for the drive home. Luke tries to slow his breathing.

“Babe, you ok?” Luke turns and Calum is slowly waking up, looking at Luke with his cute sleepy face. Luke’s heart finally settles. Calum is right there, totally fine. That doesn’t stop Luke from reaching out and touching Calum’s cheek to make sure it’s warm.

“I’m good. Go back to sleep.” Luke traces the lines of Calum’s face and Calum seems happy to follow Luke’s orders. Before falling completely back to sleep, Calum reaches out and rests his arm around Luke’s hips. Luke watches as Calum’s breathing slows and he falls back under, peacefully.

But Luke can’t do that. He’s too afraid of what he’ll see when he closes his eyes. So he climbs out from under Calum’s arm, deciding to head down stairs for a midnight snack.

The hallway outside the kitchen is dark, but he doesn’t need the lights to get to the refrigerator. The clock over the stove says 2:17. Luke grabs a tupperware container full of brownies his mom made the other night and a glass of milk before sitting at the dining room table.

There’s this sense of gloom hanging over his head. The sugar in the brownies just intensifies it. Luke’s eye lids keep drooping but every time he gets passed a  certain point, he remembers the way Dream Calum’s skin looked, no blood pumping underneath. Luke swallows a bite hard, his stomach churning.

The next thing he knows, there’s a hand on his shoulder and light against his eye lids. “Did you sleep here last night?”

Luke opens his eyes and Calum is standing next to the dining room table, looking down at Luke. Luke’s arms are crossed on the table and his head is lying against them. Huh. He must have slept here last night.

“I guess?” Luke mumbles, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

Calum’s hand moves up into Luke’s hair. Calum’s eyes bore into Luke’s, trying to pick something out that will answer all the questions between them. “Ok.” Calum looks away, into the kitchen, before turning back, “Will you be ready to go in half an hour?”

Luke shrugs, “Sure.”

Calum grimaces down at Luke, “Sorry, I would’ve waken you up earlier if I’d known you were sleeping. I just figured you were down here with your parents.”

Luke brings his hands up to run down his face, trying to rub some warmth into them, “It’s ok. I came down for a brownie, I must’ve nodded off.”

Calum chuckles, “Just one brownie?”

Luke turns his head to smirk up at Calum. Calum’s got a small grin on his face and his fingers are playing with the hairs at the back of Luke’s neck. Luke says, “Maybe. I can’t remember how many it was.”

Calum steps back at that, giving Luke space to stand up, “Well, get up. If we want to beat traffic we need to leave soon.”

Luke stands and, without really thinking, draws Calum into a hug. After a moment, Calum hugs him back, his arms looping around Luke’s back. They stand still in the room and hold each other close.

Eventually, Luke needs to get changed and Calum goes to make their breakfast. There’s still a sense of dread hanging over Luke’s head as he climbs the stairs of his old home.

****

*****

 

Luke waves over his shoulder at his parents one last time as he walks down to the car, keys in his right hand and a suitcase in the other. Calum’s already standing next to the trunk  holding their suit bags above his head.

“Click the button,” Calum calls out. Luke hits the little key for the trunk. Luke doesn’t drive much, doesn’t see the need to, but he likes the Buick he bought a few years back. Gladdie always had Buicks. Luke looks over to her lawn and sees that the flowers need weeding. He wonders if Mikey’s family will sell the house. Probably.

Luke turns his head back to where Calum is taking the suitcase from him. Luke’s neck cracks, leftover soreness from sleeping on the dining room table. Calum closes the trunk and holds his hands out for the keys.

“I’ll drive so you can sleep,” Calum says. Calum drives even less than Luke does and Luke knows he doesn’t particularly like it. So Luke shrugs.

“I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” Calum asks.

Luke nods his head once, “Yeah, it’s only a few hours. If I need to switch I’ll let you know.”

They get in and drive off, a weary expression never really leaving Calum’s face.

It hits Luke about halfway through the drive. Calum’s been asleep for the past few hours, just like Luke figured he would be. Luke could’ve turned on the car radio or played his own music, but he opted for the silence.

Gladdie’s funeral had been a healing experience. Many people had stood and said kind words about her. Luke had seen Connie too, so it was nice to catch up with her and Robert. Mikey and Luke had stuck together for most of the service, the burial, and the reception afterwards. People told beautiful stories about Gladdie, a legend of the Bridge world. It had made everything a bit more ok for Luke. He still had miles to go, but the pit in his gut had shrunk enough for him to function.

He’s driving down the highway, trying to remember if his meeting with the marketing department is tomorrow or next Friday. If it’s tomorrow he needs to touch base with Beth and make sure she has the mock ups he wanted her to design for the new signs.

All it takes is a small glance over at Calum for his mind to go back to the dream from the night before. The image comes back so clearly, Calum lying on white satin with his eyes closed. Luke can’t breathe for a moment because the thought is suddenly all he can think. Calum is going to die.

It might not be tomorrow, or the next year, or the next decade, but eventually Calum will die. Luke’s always been aware of his own mortality, but he’d never considered Calum. Even if Calum outlasts Luke by years, there will one day be a world without Calum. And it physically hurts Luke, the pain spreading to his chest, just to think about it. To think about Calum being gone.

But what if Luke doesn’t die first? What if Calum...what if Luke has to live without Calum?

Luke keeps his hands steady on the wheel as he breathes heavily. He fixates on a point on the horizon, miles and miles away, keeping the car steady as he drives down the lonely highway. Calum is right next to him but just the thought that Calum might not be there one day feels like a punch to the gut.

Luke needs a minute. He needs a fucking minute to just stop. He pulls over to the side of the road and turns his hazards on, hoping no one stops to ask if he needs help. They probably won’t, too afraid of Luke trying to murder them. But Luke needs a minute.

He parks the car and pulls his hands off the wheel. They’re shaking, tiny vibrations, as if his emotions are all running to his hands and escaping through his finger tips. He buries his hands in his armpits, squeezing down with his arms to clamp them in. Luke leans his head against the steering wheel and takes a few breathes, in and out, trying to calm down.

Flashes of images keep coming up in his mind. Waking up with the bed neat next to him, no remnants of warmth from Calum’s body. Dinners by himself in his apartment, having to cork the bottle of wine after only pouring one glass. Going out with his friends, all of them paired off nicely, while Luke sits alone, no one to put their arm around the back of his chair. He wouldn’t be able to do it.

“We back?” Luke can’t look when Calum speaks. He hears the leather of the car seat squeak as Calum sits up, “Where are we?”

“We’ve got about two more hours.” Luke finds his voice.

“Oh. Why’d you stop? Is there something wrong with the car?” Calum asks. Luke’s heart is beating, a bit of panic in his blood. He just needs a minute.

“No.” Luke breathes out. “A headache. I’m fine, I just need a minute.”

“Do you want me to drive?” Calum lowers his voice, just a whisper as he talks to Luke. Luke’s head is still firmly pressed against the steering wheel.

“No. I’m good. Just give me a sec.” Luke wills his pulse to slow down.

Luke flinches when he feels Calum’s long fingers press against his upper back. Calum pulls back his hand almost immediately. “Luke?” Luke doesn’t respond. “I really don’t mind-”

“I said I’m fine Calum. I want to drive. Just give me a fucking second.” Luke raises his voice against Calum’s soft whispers.

It feels like the ocean in Luke’s bones is raging. And he’s just this little ship, waiting to capsize. His entire life was constantly battling the waves. Then he fell in love and everything calmed down for him. But now, the storm is raging, waiting for Calum to be gone and pull him under. One day there won’t be a Calum.

Luke jolts up, turning the car on and driving back onto the slim two lane highway like he’s the getaway car and they need to outrun who, or what, ever is chasing them. It’s a warped version of the truth. Luke needs to outrun the feeling, that panic and pain, that he thought was dissipating after Gladdie’s funeral. It’s back full throttle.

The highway extends in front of them, seeming like it will never end. Luke is going just a few miles above the speed limit. The Buick, true to it’s nature, is driving smooth over the old worn road. Luke can feel Calum’s eyes against his cheek.

Luke sighs and turns, just for a second, to meet Calum’s eyes. Calum looks incredulous, lips set in a thin line. He’s leaning up against the window, shoulder against the passenger seat. Watching Luke.

Luke turns back to the road, whispering, “I’m sorry.”

Calum takes a few seconds to respond, his voice low and soft in the warm interior, “It’s ok.” Luke keeps on driving, foot heavy on the gas pedal and eyes unmoving from the yellow lines down the center of the road.

Calum’s asleep again in fifteen minutes. Luke reaches out his hand to feel the breath puffing out of Calum’s nose every ten minutes, just to make sure.

****  
********

*****

****

“What are you still doing here?” Chris, one of the pit bosses, asks when Luke is walking the floor on Saturday night. Well, by now it’s probably Sunday morning.

It’s a great question. Luke hasn’t really stayed past ten in the casino in years. As everyone grew more accustomed to their roles and the kinks had ironed themselves out, Luke had just left his number with whoever was the head pit boss, telling them to call if anything went wrong after he left. Luke had only been called down a few times in the three years. It's been good, giving him enough time to curl up with Calum before he fell asleep.

But he’s avoiding going up tonight. Luke looks down at Chris and grins, “I’ve been away so much lately. Just getting reacquainted.” With that he reaches out to pat the closest card table, “Hello friend.”

Chris laughs at that, hand on his slight beer belly, “Alright. Some of us were worried you were doing more evaluations.”

Luke fiercely shakes his head, “Absolutely not. We’ve learned our lesson.” They don’t bring up the evaluations fiasco of ’30 often.

Chris pats Luke’s shoulder, “Just checking. And for what’s worth, I’m really sorry about Ms.Mckee. Me and the rest of the crew wanted to pass along our condolences.” Chris is genuine. He’s a nice guy, Luke likes him. He brings his son to all the staff parties and smiles at every word the little guy says. Luke sighs.

“Thanks Chris.” Luke gives him a weak smile. A lot of the staff had already sent him cards. It was a nice gesture, something they weren’t obligated to do, but it made him feel good to know that his employees cared about him.

Chris looks down at his watch, “Good talking to you boss, but I’ve got to go do the pick up at the craps tables.” Luke waves him off and goes back to his lonely walk around the tables. They’re not that busy, considering it’s a weekend. There are empty chairs at a few of the tables and the aisles aren’t clogged. It’d be better for business if no one could breathe from the room being so packed.

Luke couldn’t sleep last night. He was exhausted crawling into bed. Luke kissed Calum good night and shut off the lamps, snuggling down into the blankets. But he couldn’t sleep. He tried adjusting more times than he could count, finally settling on staring at the broad expanse of Calum’s shoulders in one of his high school soccer T shirts. Luke watched for hours, just the rise and fall, the rhythm of Calum’s body. He slept in fits after that, never asleep for more than twenty minutes before he woke up. It was always the point in his dream where he turned into the wooden room, the casket in front of him. Luke had trained his body to run at the sight, waking him rather than making him go further.

Around six in the morning, Luke had gotten up and went downstairs. He watched old sitcom reruns until Calum came down and they made gloopy oatmeal with milk and sugar, joking about how clumpy they made it. As soon as Calum had left for work, the tentative smile had left Luke’s face and it hadn’t really found it’s way back all day.

Luke pauses as he walks around the bar. They’ve reupholstered the stools since that night, but Luke can still remember the spot on the bar where he’s certain he fell for Calum. Luke had been taking a little break, plopping down on the stool on a Thursday night. They’d been together nearly four months at the time, and Luke had felt tired that day. Calum had come over and started poking Luke’s cheek, trying to make him smile. Even after Luke had broke out laughing uncontrollably, Calum had persisted with the poking. After five minutes of Calum grinning slyly at Luke and Luke breaking out in intermittent laughter, Calum had asked, exasperated, ‘why didn’t you ask me to stop?’ and Luke realized it was because he never wanted him to.

The cement slowly curing in his gut feels heavier with the thought. He decides there and then that it’s time to go up to bed. His office is locked, the bosses can handle the lower volume night. And Luke is so tired. Tired of feeling broken mostly, but he knows that won’t go away any time soon.

Luke heads out of the archway that designates the opening of the casino. He must look wide eyed like a zombie. He passes a stumbling couple, probably drunk, falling against a wall and laughing loudly. Luke waves at a few of the employees he passes, a maid he recognizes and two of the restaurant staffers leaving for the night. The lobby is oddly quiet for the time of night, just clicking heels and mumbled voices.

There’s an elevator waiting when he reaches the bank of them. He steps in and his hand hovers over the keypad to type in his floor code. His finger rests against the first digit but doesn’t push down. Harry changes the codes every few years, as a safety precaution, but he likes to keep it as something easy for all of them to remember. This passed spring he’d changed it to Luke and Calum’s wedding day. Luke keys in the code slowly.

Luke sucks in a quick breath and rest his head against the cool metal of the elevator. It fucking sucks, this feeling of being stuck, like he’s in a maze and no matter where he turns, he always finds the same dead end. Every damn surface in this hotel is a constant reminder of Calum and he can’t breathe anymore with the constant flood of memories. And one day, all he’ll have is memories.

His cards don’t do anything at all for him anymore. He almost feels sick looking at them. He’s shuffled more in the past two days than he had in the previous month. They’re just a flashy reminder of a passion he once thought was eternal but was so easily replaced.

Luke just wants Calum, but isn’t that the problem? He can’t...Luke can’t rely on just one person for the rest of his life. That can’t be healthy. What if one day Calum tosses him aside just like Luke’s forgotten his cards? They were practically headed down that path anyways, with all the silence. It took Gladdie’s death to get them close again. What if no one dies next time the cracks in their relationship start growing?

Or what if Calum dies? What if Luke gets a call in the middle of the day, someone who’s name he won’t catch telling him they did everything they could. There would be no slow descent, no ‘well, it wasn’t working anyways’ to console him when he got lonely. Nope, if Calum dies it will just be Luke left alone in the dark waiting for someone to turn on a lamp, waiting for someone to lie and tell him it will all be ok.

Th elevator dings as he reaches his floor. He drifts out of the elevator, a hand running over his face trying to chase away the prickling of tears against his eyes. He takes the familiar turns to his door and opens it quickly, needing to be out of the no mans land territory of the hallway.

Luke tosses the key card into the bowl and takes his shoes off at the doorway. He slides them neatly onto the shoe rack they keep in the small closet to the side of the door. The domesticity of it all, the exact slot for his shoes in between Calum’s, the bowl filled with all their mutual friends apartment keys, the photo from their wedding perched next to the bowl. There’s no seam where Luke ends and Calum begins.

Luke tiptoes up the stairs. Calum left the door open, probably so he’d be able to hear when Luke got home. Calum hasn’t fallen asleep without waiting for Luke in a long time, but Luke walks in and sees Calum quiet in bed. Luke feels a bit itchy, like something is crawling over his skin, but he walks to their dresser and takes out his pajamas.

He tells himself that the reason he goes back downstairs to sleep on the couch is because he doesn’t want to disturb Calum by getting into the bed. Luke pulls a few extra blankets from the linen closet and thinks this is a great idea, that Calum will be thankful he could get a full nights rest without Luke lumbering into bed at quarter after two in the morning. Luke tells himself it’s for the best as he wraps himself up on the small width of the couch, a size that had always seemed perfect for him and Calum as they squished together.

Luke pushes the thought away as he burrows into the couch cushions and falls asleep peacefully for the first time in two days. He tells himself, one last time before he goes to sleep, that this is a good idea. There are no nightmares that night.

Luke wakes up when he feels Calum’s fingers tracing up his neck the next morning. Luke pretends to be asleep and waits to here the door close, knowing that Calum has left for work. Luke still lays on the couch for another few minutes, just in case Calum comes back.

****

*****

****

The apartment smells really good when Luke gets back from the casino one night. He’d done some last minute work before heading up after rounds, making sure that Zayn coming back in tomorrow after his days off wouldn’t be overloaded. At least, that was the logic he used that kept him in his chair until midnight.

Luke quietly opens the door and is hit with the smell of something distinctly floral. He frowns. They don’t get fresh flowers, that’s Hayley’s thing. Is he in the wrong apartment? Everything looks in it’s place, so he must be home. The only other thing out of the ordinary are the faint sounds of a TV playing in the living room.

Luke puts his shoes away and walks in to find Calum with his laptop on the couch and an old action film playing on the TV. Calum glances up when Luke comes in, giving him hardly a look, before turning back to the screen, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Luke says, sitting in the armchair, “Why’re you still up?”

Calum shrugs, not looking up to meet Luke’s eyes, “Was waiting for you.”

Luke frowns, “You didn’t have to.”

Calum looks up, a little stunned, “Well I did. Can’t really do anything about it now.”

Luke freezes. He’s done something. Well, of course he’s done something. He hasn’t been home at the same time as Calum in weeks. He went in to work both of his first ‘days off’ after the funeral and this past Monday and Tuesday he stayed with Mikey at his apartment. Mikey had just moved back to Vegas after being home for the last few months of Gladdie's life and hadn’t wanted to be alone in his apartment just yet. Calum had offered to go with Luke but Luke had told him to stay at the hotel, that it’d probably be better for Luke and Mikey to have some time alone together.

Other than that, Calum and Luke have the odd meal together while they’re working. Luke tends to leave as soon as he’s done eating, not drawing it out like he’s known to do. Every time he gets up with some excuse, Calum gives him a tight smile and says he’ll see him later. But later comes and Luke makes sure to get home after Calum’s bed time and sleeps on the couch. A few times he even feel asleep on the desk in his office. Anything is really better than falling asleep next to Calum, he can’t sleep when he’s next to Calum.

So he’s definitely done something, that is obvious. But Luke thought they’d just ignore it. He’s just going through something, Calum must realize that. Luke expected Calum to let him work on it, hoping that Calum wouldn’t ask  him what was going on. Luke has no idea how to say that this isn’t about Gladdie. It’s about Calum.

“Uh...” Luke says, pushing off of the chair, “I’m going to make something, do you want anything?” Luke points to the kitchen. He needs a second to breathe without Calum in the room.

“I’m good. There’s some stuff in the fridge that Hayley brought up earlier if you want that,” Calum calls as Luke heads into the kitchen.

Luke stops when he enters the kitchen. He hadn’t seen before when he passed by, but now the little things are glaringly obvious. There’s a candle pushed aside on the kitchen counter, the wax just hardened on the top like it was just lit. There’s a vase of roses next to it, and Luke can see the navy paper wrapping of the florist’s down stairs peeking out of the trash can. By the sink, there are two of the plates from their wedding set, a very simple curved silver pattern along the edges, sitting in the draining board. A single wine glass is set alongside them.

Panic rises in Luke’s blood. When he opens the fridge, he sees that the food isn’t in the to-go containers Hayley uses, it’s in their own tupperware. There’s a half drunk bottle of wine next to it. Luke closes the door, trying to rid himself of the image of Calum sitting at the counter, a bouquet of roses and a candle lit, their meals plated, waiting for Luke to come home.

Luke moves to lean against the wall that partially separates their kitchen and living areas. He stands their a moment, arms crossed, and watches as Calum continues typing something up on his keyboard. Luke sighs.

“We said we weren’t going to celebrate half years after last year.” Luke says, voice low and an odd combination of sad and desperate. He had known what day it was, how could he not? But he didn’t process it. More like he was sitting at his computer earlier, looking at the date, and thought ‘hey, I’ve been married two and a half years!’ but then a sense of dread worked it’s way into his system and he tried to forget what that even meant.

Calum looks up, his chin resting on the heel of his hand, “I know. Just thought we needed something to celebrate.”

Luke sighs, avoiding Calum’s eyes, “I’m sorry.”

Calum shrugs, “It’s ok. You didn’t know.”

“Is that why Beth was forcing me to leave?”

Calum pauses before nodding, “Yeah. She said she’d help.” Luke sighs again. He feels terrible. Beth had pushed him out of the office at eight on the dot, but Luke had just wandered around the floor, helping with the guests, until he knew she’d be gone for good. It makes it even worse, knowing that Beth thought she was triumphant. That she probably texted Calum and Calum took the time to set up for them to celebrate and love each other. Luke feels hollow.

Luke pushes off the wall. “I’m so sorry Cal.” He walks over to the couch, sitting down next to Calum, trying to snuggle up to his shoulder and resting his cheek against it. Calum immediately closes the laptop and wraps his arms around Luke. Calum’s always been a cuddler. Luke wonders how he’s been getting on these past few weeks without Luke to volunteer to be cuddled.

Calum buries his face in Luke’s hair, his nose catching against the hard strands. Calum’s voice is low and smooth when he speaks, “It’s ok. I know you’re still going through something.” Luke holds back a swallow when Calum says it, “but know that you can talk to me, yeah? You kind of have to, that's what I'm here for.”

“Ok,” Luke breathes out against Calum’s neck. It feels so good, all of Calum’s heat pressing into his skin, probably ruining his suit. He basks in the glow that is Calum.

“I know we haven’t seen each other much in the past few weeks,” Oh no. Calum’s taking part of the blame. He shouldn’t do that. He can’t do that. It’s all Luke’s fault, “but I’m here. And I love you.” Calum’s hands are rubbing up and down Luke’s back.

“Love you too.” It pains Luke to say it, probably because it’s so true. The words want to stick in his throat but he can’t do that to Calum. Calum just places a long kiss to Luke’s forehead. Luke tracks Calum’s heart rate, placing his hand on Calum’s chest right over his nine of spades tattoo.

They sit there until it feels like too much. They don’t speak, none of their usual laughter or jokes. Just sitting. After awhile, Calum jostles Luke a bit, trying to get up.

“Are you going to come to bed tonight?” Calum asks, the hope clear in his words.

Luke can’t look up when he shakes his head. Calum sighs above him.

“Ok. Good night babe.”

“Good night Cal.” Luke whispers as Calum’s steps up the stairs.

That night, it’s not as easy falling asleep on the couch. He could move to the guest room, but that would just pile more wrong onto an already bad situation. So Luke pulls the blankets closer around him and tries not to dream of Calum’s smile when they took that trip to the Grand Canyon.

 

*****

 

“We haven’t had sex in two months.”

Luke swallows hard before looking up at Calum. He can feel his eyes widen and his hands grip tighter to the book he’d been reading. Calum seems much more relaxed than Luke. He’s sitting at their kitchen counter while Luke’s in his chair in the living room. It’s something he’s learned over the past few weeks, if he only sits in the chair then Calum won’t try and snuggle with him.

Oh. Two months. So that means it’s been about two months since Gladdie died.

Calum’s watching Luke, a confused expression on his face. He seems to be more shocked than angry. Luke doesn’t really know what to say.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Calum jolts out of his confusion and looks at Luke with more clarity, “Are we ok, Luke?”

Luke pretends to go back to reading, but the words are all foreign to him, “Of course.”

“Are you sure?” Calum gets up and walks into the living room. He sits down on the couch, leaning forward on his knees, “I thought...I assumed when you started sleeping in bed again that we were good. But I can’t even remember the last time you kissed me.”

Luke looks up, “I kissed you this morning.”

Calum shakes his head, “No, I kissed you. I always kiss you. I can’t remember the last time you initiated it.” Calum’s back to his confused face, looking like a puppy with his big bushy eyebrows and his pouted lips.

Luke runs a hand through his hair. He doesn’t respond. Because it’s true. He hasn’t kissed Calum in so long. There’s a difference between kissing someone and kissing them back.

It’d been hard, but he’d done it. He’d come to rely on Calum less. He’s back to needing a deck of cards within arms reach constantly and the silence in their apartment is replaced by the sound of cards slapping against each other. Luke hasn’t seen Calum laugh in awhile. Luke hasn’t laughed in awhile. But at least the thought of Calum leaving doesn’t cause Luke to break out in cold sweats anymore.  

“Luke.”

Luke looks up at Calum. He does that a lot lately. There was a time when he didn’t have to actively look at Calum when he spoke because Luke was already staring, mesmerized by Calum’s mouth forming words.

“What’s going on with us?” Calum sounds exasperated.

“It’s not a big deal, lots of married couples don’t have that much sex.” Luke shrugs.

“Yeah, because they have kids and stuff. There is nothing stopping us from having sex right now, and a year ago nothing would stop us from having sex right now, so why aren’t we having sex right now?”

“Look,” Luke tries to find words to explain away Calum’s outspread arms and disbelief, “I’m sorry that I’m not up for having sex all the time anymore. Sorry if that’s inconvenient for you, but I’m just not always up for it.” The words come out harsher than he intended.

Calum looks taken aback. He leans back against the couch and crosses his arms. He speaks with disgust, “Don’t say it like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like that!” Calum says, a bit more forcefully, “Like I’m forcing you to sleep with me or something. I’m not, it’s not even about sex anyways. It’s about the fact that sex is something we’ve always enjoyed and now we don’t do it anymore and I don’t understand why!”

Luke stands up. He needs...something. He puts his book down and walks to the kitchen, Calum following after him. “Stop running from me Luke, just talk to me. Are you not attracted to me anymore? Do you not want to bottom? Are you insecure? What? Just tell me.” Calum follows behind Luke as Luke gets a glass of water and drinks most of it in one gulp. Luke sets the glass down and hides his face in his hands since he can’t hide the rest of his body. Calum is so close to him. Luke can feel the heat of Calum’s chest hovering next to his elbow. This gets so hard sometimes.

“Is this about Gladdie?” Calum whispers into the space between them.

Luke puts his hands down and peers over at Calum. He’s just standing there, hand on the counter next to Luke, eyes staring into Luke’s. Luke feels so small. He wants to curl up and let Calum hold him. But he can’t do that anymore, that’s what got him into this position in the first place. He can’t need Calum like this anymore.

“I don’t know.” Luke says, hardly a breath, “I don’t know Cal.”

A flash of panic takes over Calum’s face for a just a second before he tries again, “Do you love me?”

Luke must take a second too long to respond, He just stares back at Calum and after a few moments forces out a weak, “Yeah.” It’s not the automatic response that Calum was probably expecting because his face completely falls and Luke doesn’t know what to do.

Calum takes a step back and turns to walk out the kitchen. Luke follows, trying to figure out what’s going on.

Calum walks up the stairs and Luke stumbles behind him, “Calum? Where are you going?”

Calum pauses at the top and turns, “To get some things.” He disappears further down the hallway.

“Calum?” Luke’s voice catches in his throat. He walks through their bedroom door and sticks to a spot by the doorway, watching. Calum has a backpack on the bed, throwing a few pairs of underwear and sweatpants in it. Luke tries again, weakly, “Calum?”

Calum pauses, halfway to the closet, and meets Luke’s eyes. It’s only a brief moment of eye contact and then Calum is at the closet. He gets their suit bags and starts wrapping a few up in one.

“I thought it was just Gladdie’s death, that you had to grieve more or something. But it’s not that, is it?” Calum finally catches Luke’s eye again, “Is it, Luke?”

Luke doesn’t move for a second. But then he has to shake his head. No, it isn’t that.

Calum throws the bag on the bed, heading to another dresser, “I can’t keep being the only one in this marriage Luke.” Calum is crazed, his voice sounding worn and breaking. How did Luke miss all the tension Calum’s been carrying? Calum stands in the middle of their room, distress spread across his features, “When you’re here it’s just as lonely as when you’re not. I can’t...” Calum stops himself as the words start to morph into gasps. Instead he grabs his bags. “Maybe with me out of your bed you’ll be able to sleep at night.”

It’s a double punch, one fist to Luke’s chest and the other in his gut. First, it’s the fact that Calum didn’t say it was their bed. It hasn’t been Luke’s bed in years, it’s always been his and Calum’s, even if Calum isn’t sleeping in it.

The other pain comes from Calum knowing that Luke hasn’t been sleeping. But how is Luke supposed to tell Calum that the only reason he can’t sleep is because every time he closes his eyes, he sees Calum dying? He sees ambulances, car accidents, robberies in the lobby, and every time there’s a certainty that Calum is gone for good. How does Luke tell Calum that he tosses and turns because no matter how many times he checks to make sure Calum is breathing, the dreams still come back and feel more and more real? How can he tell Calum that the only reason why he moved back up to the bedroom at night is because it happens no matter where Luke sleeps?

“I’ll be at Hayley’s, ok?” Calum says. They’re walking back down the stairs. “Just call when you want to talk.” Calum pauses in the front hall, right near the door, searching through the bowl of keys for Hayley’s. Once he has it in his hand, he turns back and sticks Luke with a heavy stare, “I love you.”

Luke tries to form the words, but he thinks Calum deserves more than just the words. He ends up just standing there with his mouth open and his arms crossed. Calum’s shoulders tense when he sees that Luke’s not going to say it. Calum sighs, opening the door and heading out, just a back pack and a few suits under his arm.

Well then. Calum’s gone.

Luke can’t move. He never thought...he had played with the idea of Calum leaving but he never actually thought that it would happen. Maybe it’s better this way, maybe Luke’s better alone. Then no one will leave him.

He needs his cards. Luke needs a deck of cards now. He scrambles in his pocket for his deck but is met with an empty space. He remembers he left them on the coffee table earlier. Luke rushes into the living room, grabbing the deck as soon as it’s within reach. He shuffles furiously, trying to calm down his breathing.

It doesn’t work. Twenty five shuffles later the deck is starting to feel out of place in his hands and he ends up throwing the cards at the couch. They explode against the cushions, an adult version of 52 pick up.

Luke melts into the chair, curling up onto the cushion. He can do this. This is what he’s been preparing for. It’s been weeks now, pulling back from Calum. But it seems like the preparation didn’t actually do that much because Luke is cracking, the carefully constructed walls that Calum built are crumbling.

Luke tries to sleep that night. It’s no surprise when he can’t.

****

*****

****

On his way to work the next morning, the walk through the lobby and the casino, none of the other employees meet his eyes. He has no idea how information travels so quickly in this place, but it’s not the first shocking gossip that’s traveled through the entire hotel in less than ten hours. Luke just curls into himself on his way in.

When he swings open the outer door to his office, Zayn and Beth look up mid conversation. It’s even worse than the day after Gladdie died. The pity is still there but they can’t give any polite condolences.

“So everyone knows then?” Luke says, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“It’s true?” Zayn asks, seemingly shocked. Beth looks less surprised. Luke can only nod. “Shit. Luke, what happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Luke mumbles before passing them and going into his office. He can feel eyes in the back of his neck but he can’t meet their gaze.

****

*****

Luke keys in the code to their floor. Harry had called on the hotel line and asked if Luke would come up for lunch. They’d settled on a time and now Luke is trying to will his headache away. He doesn’t know what Harry wants, to be a mediator, a business man, or a concerned friend.

It’s been three days since Calum left. Luke has avoided the apartment as much as he possibly can. People have been kind, thinking that if Calum left, it must be Calum’s fault. The only people who haven’t been as kind are Louis and Hayley, but that’s not really a shocker since Calum sees them every day and he’s probably told them what actually happened. Luke certainly hasn’t told anyone.

That’s probably why he’s getting summoned to Harry’s, to be interrogated. Harry hasn’t been prying, just mentioned that Louis wouldn’t tell him anything that Calum said.

Harry’s sitting at the kitchen counter when Luke gets to his apartment, the door having been open for him to come in. Luke knocks against the door frame anyways, just to let Harry know he’s there. There’s a big bowl of spaghetti and a fork sat in front of the chair next to Harry.

“Thanks,” Luke says. He hasn’t eaten anything made in a real kitchen since the day Calum left. It hadn’t been much, he and Calum had only learned how to cook simple things. But just the thought of actually cooking there now makes Luke feel sick.

“No problem.” Harry fiddles with his new engagement ring. Louis had just proposed a few weeks before and from what Luke heard, they were planning to elope and then have a huge party at the LA hotel once they’d honeymooned long enough. But Harry doesn’t look happy now. He looks contemplative, twirling the ring around his finger.

Luke’s a few bites in, patiently waiting, when Harry finally speaks his mind, “I don’t get it.”

“Get what?” Luke asks.

“You never fight.” Harry dead pans, looking at Luke, “You have never fought. And not because you solved your arguments and talked through them. You never had anything to fight over. Like, one of you would say something and the other would think it was the best thing ever. That was just who you were.” Luke thinks that a bit of an exaggeration, but he lets Harry continue, “And now you get in a fight and you can’t work it out? One fight is all that did it? When I heard, I expected Calum to be back within an hour but it’s been three days Luke. All because of one fight?” Harry looks like he is on the precipice of something, about to fall over with the tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.

Luke sets his fork down and rest his chin in his hand to look at Harry, “It wasn’t really a fight, H.”

That sets Harry off even more, “So what was it then? Was it being married? Did you get bored of each other? Or was being together too much to handle?” Luke’s eyes draw down to where Harry is rubbing his ring. Oh. That makes sense.

“Don’t base your relationship off of what me and Calum are going through. You and Louis are different. You’re getting married and it’s going to be great.” Luke tries smiling at him. Harry stops fiddling and sighs.

Harry whispers the words, “I always looked up to you and Calum, I was so jealous of your relationship. You always seemed to have so much, fun like it was natural for you. And now I don’t know what to think if you’re falling apart.”

Luke shakes his head, “It’s not a problem with us. It’s a problem with me.”

Harry seems to let that sink in, his shoulders slumping and finally looking Luke square on, “What happened Luke?”

Luke looks over his shoulder at the million dollar view outside of the window. The sun is shining today. It looks nice out. He bites his lip before he speaks, still watching the rays reflecting off the other skyscrapers.

“After Gladdie died, I couldn’t stop thinking about Calum dying. Every time I tried to sleep I’d see him in a casket, it was driving me insane. It made me realize how dependent I was on Calum and that I had no other safety net, so if Calum left I’d be inconsolable. So I just...” Luke meets Harry’s non-judgmental eyes, “I started pushing him away, thinking that if I was more independent now, it’d be better in the long run.” Luke sighs, taking a moment to change gears, “I guess he felt neglected. So he left.”

Harry’s watching Luke wide eyed, on the edge of his seat. When Luke turns back to his pasta, Harry’s face cracks, “Wait. That’s it.”

Luke gives him a puzzled look, “Yeah?”

Harry smiles gently. Luke leans back away from him, offended.

“Luke,” Harry says brightly, “That’s literally the easiest thing to fix in the world. You just have to tell him that in your time of grieving you made a bad judgement call and it was stupid but you still love him.” Harry’s pointing in the direction of Hayley’s apartment. It’s like a giant weight has lifted off Harry’s shoulders and onto Luke’s, “Louis’ been talking like you killed something.”

Luke did kind of kill something. He killed the notion of them being indestructible. Hell, Luke doesn’t even know if he wants to mend this. Well, of course he does. It’s Calum. But what if down the road, Calum leaves again? Or dies, that’s still freaking Luke out. Wouldn’t it be better to try and get over it, excruciatingly painful as it is, now rather than later?

Luke groans, dropping his face in his hands. He’s so confused. He can’t reconcile this new thing they’re in with the boy he fell in love with over and over again years ago. The Calum who packed a bag is the same one who snuggled him when he was sick with the flu two winters ago. And that’s the same Calum who might leave again one day, or even worse. They’re all the same person even though Calum’s in Hayley’s spare room.

“Maybe it’s better this way, tolet it stay like this. Then he can never leave again,” Luke shrugs, turning to Harry.

Harry’s eyebrows furrow, “He didn’t leave. He’s literally down the hall. He’s not leaving Luke. He’s waiting. If he wanted to leave, he’d be halfway across the country by now.”

“What?” Luke doesn’t get it.

“Well, it’s not like he doesn’t know how to get by. You’re the one who told me about him moving all the time. If he really wanted to leave you, he wouldn’t be living with one of your best friends, literally on the same floor as you.” Harry’s looking at Luke like he’s an idiot. He probably is.

“You just need to talk to him Lukey.” Harry punches Luke’s shoulder lightly. Luke just sighs again.

This talk with Harry hasn’t resolved anything. It’s made him feel even worse about the situation. It makes him want to both run to Calum while also screaming for Calum to go away. A part of him wants to be strong by himself and the other just wants to fall asleep with someone next to him. Someone he loves. He only really loves Calum. Has only ever really loved Calum.

Luke takes the elevator back down to the casino. His face is blank in the mirrors. He doesn’t look distraught even though his body is being drawn in so many different directions. He’s always had a good poker face.

 

*****

 

When Luke gets back later, Calum’s shoes are in the front hallway. They’re just his moccasins, the ones he wears around the floor when he goes to their friends apartments. Luke got them for him for Christmas last year. They’re furry on the inside.

“Calum?” Luke calls into the apartment.

“In here.” Calum says from the living room. Luke’s heart beat picks up. If he was just here to get his things, he wouldn’t be sitting in the living room, would he?

Luke takes off his shoes and jacket, hanging it gently on their coat rack, before walking into the living room. Calum’s in pajama bottoms and a sweat shirt, lying on their couch. He’s reading something on his phone, but he puts it away as Luke approaches.

“Hey.”

 “Hi,” Luke says stiffly. Calum moves his feet so that Luke can sit down at the end of the couch. Luke just teeters on the arm of the couch, doing a little balancing act. He doesn’t know what to say. He hasn’t really known what to say since Gladdie died. Maybe that’s what she took with her, his voice.

“Harry said I had to talk to you,” Calum says. He scratches his head, looking at his knee, “He said you won’t come to me so I have to come here. And I swear Luke, if you don’t tell me what’s going on in your head but you’ll tell him then I don’t-”

“I keep seeing you die.”

Calum stops talking and looks up at that. Luke is staring out the window behind Calum’s head. Luke talks to the window instead of Calum.

“Every time I try to sleep. And it’s always different. It feels so real and I feel so hopeless without you.” Luke clears his throat, willing his voice to cooperate and not crack, “So I figured that if I just...tried to love you less in real life, it would hurt less when...when it eventually happens.” Luke swallows, still not looking at Calum. The room is still around them.

“That’s bull shit.” Calum says harshly. Luke looks up and Calum looks genuinely angry. “That’s such bull shit Luke.”

“But it’s how I feel-”

“Are you kidding me?” Calum stands up, throwing the pillow he’d been holding down. He looks like he wants to throw something else, maybe a punch at Luke. Luke stays on the couch arm, out of Calum’s way. “This entire time, this has all been about me dying?” Calum is pointing at his chest, finger jabbing into his sternum.

“Yes-”

“That’s shit Luke! I thought you didn’t love me anymore! I thought I did something-”

Luke crosses his arms over his chest, “Calum-”

Calum holds a hand out like a stop sign to halt Luke’s words, “Shut up. Just stop Luke. It’s shit and you know it.”

“No I don’t Cal. The cards don’t even work anymore. If you died, if you left, I’d have no way to bounce back. You’re my thing Calum! I just wanted to have something else too, so that if anything happened I wouldn’t be stuck.” Luke is screaming but his body feels small on the couch.

Calum looks dumbstruck, “Luke, I’m not going to die for years. Neither of us,” He motions between the two of them, “are going to die for years. And if I died tomorrow, would I not have been worth it?”

Oh.

OH.

Oh god.

Calum lets out a disbelieving, almost cruel, short laugh, “You didn’t even look at it that way, did you? Damnit Luke, you’re so selfish sometimes. You were trying to protect yourself and it probably never occured to you-”

“Will you just fucking hold me for a second?” Luke yells, stopping Calum on his little tirade. Within a moment, Calum is next to Luke and pulling him into his chest. Luke wraps his arms around Calum’s shoulders and tucks into Calum’s neck. Calum’s fingertips are digging into his back.

“Do you love me?” Calum asks, cheek against Luke’s hair.

“Of course,” it comes out like a gasp from Luke’s mouth. He tightens his arms even more, letting himself have this. Because no matter how much pain there is at the end of this, of course it’s worth it. Luke feels stupid. Calum will always be worth it.

“Say it,” Calum whispers.

“I love you.” Luke presses a kiss to the underside of Calum’s jaw. “I love you Calum, and I’m so sorry-”

Calum cuts him off by kissing him, all the missed kisses all at once. It’s sloppy and they’re both clutching at each other. Luke drops down onto their couch and pulls Calum with him. Calum doesn’t seem to mind, just presses Luke down into the cushions, neither of them really getting any chances to breathe. Luke feels like crying.

“Calum, come on. Let’s go upstairs.” Luke pushes Calum away from where he’s unbuttoning Luke’s shirt. Calum gives him a slightly disapproving look.

“I’m not carrying you,” Calum says with his eyebrows furrowed.

The room seems to go still for a second, like their lives are fragile and made out of glass. It shatters when Luke lets out hysterical laughter, Calum following suit. Calum falls down on top of Luke as they laugh together, for the first time in months, Calum’s head rising and falling with Luke’s chest.

“Seriously?” Luke asks as he gets control of himself.

Calum picks himself up and hovers over Luke’s face, “Shut up.” He leans down and kisses Luke once gently on the corner of his mouth, “I love you.”

“Same. Now get off me so we can go upstairs.” Calum doesn’t really seem to be listening, his arms perched on Luke’s chest, just watching his face. Luke can’t stop smiling at him. “Please? It’s felt weird without you.”

Calum’s smile falters, “Yeah, I remember.” Luke reaches up to rub at Calum’s scalp, gently with just his fingertips. Before Luke can start apologizing again, Calum smirks, “Guess we’ll just have to rechristen it.”

“Exactly. Now get off me. You can try fucking some sense into me.” Luke smirks back, trying to make the situation light. But Calum’s soft smile is back.

Calum groans as he gets off the couch, stretching his back out before giving Luke a hand and pulling him up. Luke, upon standing, steps into Calum’s space to kiss him again, hands on the sides of his face.

Luke asks when he pulls away, “Did you really think I suddenly thought you were unattractive?”

Calum shrugs, “Don’t know. I’m getting older.”

Luke wraps his arms around Calum’s shoulders, “You’re still hot though.” Calum taps Luke’s bum at that, “What? It’s true.”

“Thanks babe.” Calum grins up at Luke.

And damn. That was so easy. It was so easy to go from not speaking to stupidly in love again. Luke finally feels settled for the first time since Gladdie died, even before that too. He and Calum finally feel like they snapped back onto the same wavelength and Luke feels good.

“I love you,” Luke says, just one more time, feeling like he needs to put it out there at least once more.

“You too, Lukey.” Calum pulls away just to grab Luke’s hand and tug him towards the stairs. Luke follows easily.

****

*****

“So, I’ve been thinking-”

“Oh no.”

Calum turns around and gives him that look like he wants to smile at Luke but he’s holding it in. Luke loves that look. Calum mumbles, “Shut up.” Luke laughs.

It’s the first day off they’ve really gotten to enjoy together in a really long time. They slept in late, had morning sex before even getting out of bed, and now Calum’s trying to make some form of acceptable breakfast for them with the small bit of food they found in the cupboards. They’ll have to go grocery shopping later. It was something they normally did together so over their two months of distance, no one had really restocked anything. Luke’s drinking a cup of coffee made with terribly stale beans.

“As I was saying,” Luke can’t help but giggle as Calum tries to sound annoyed, standing in their kitchen in nothing but boxers. Really though, everything that Calum’s been doing lately has made Luke laugh. It’s like Luke had forgotten he was able to laugh and now that he’s remembered, he can’t stop.

“I’m trying to be serious Luke.” Calum turns back and leans over their counter, across from Luke. Luke’s eyes trail over Calum’s body, settling around the tattoo of the nine of clubs. Luke doesn’t know how he forgot about that, about Calum being everything to him. How could Luke forget? Calum is the nine of clubs.

“Ok, I’m listening.” Luke sets his coffee down and rests his chin on his fists, staring at Calum.

Calum sighs, “How about a cat?”

Luke is taken aback. A cat? What does a cat have to do with anything, “What?”

Calum picks at his fingernails, “Do you remember the day Gladdie died.”

Luke snorts, “Of course I do.”

Calum looks up at Luke. Luke can’t read his expression. Calum starts again, “We were having a fight about getting a dog. Remember?”

Luke nods. He does remember. That argument got pushed aside and he hadn’t really thought about it since. It seems like Calum has.

Calum grins at Luke, “Will you compromise? A cat?”

Luke freezes. He’s not really a cat person, but he could be. He’d rather have a little kitty that he can snuggle than nothing. He feels the smile spread across his face, “Really?”

Calum nods a few times before shrugging, “I thought a lot about it and I see your point. It would be fun to take care of something. And cats need less work than dogs, I bet we could do it.”

Luke jumps out of his seat and runs around the counter to hug Calum. He kisses Calum. He loves Calum, “Thank you.”

“Of course babe,” Calum crowds Luke against the counter and kisses the smile off his lips.

****

******

****

The shelter they go to is kind of sad. The walls are painted a drab grey color and the woman behind the desk doesn’t smile when they walk in. They’re escorted down a hallway with cages down both sides, stacked up high with kittens and older cats.

“What type of cat are you looking for?” The veterinarian at the shelter asks them.

Luke looks around at all the cages. None of the cats seem particularly interested in them. “We don’t really know. One that will like us?”

The veterinarian shrugs, “Sure, but did you want an older cat? A kitten? Coloring? Long hair or short hair?”

Luke looks over to see Calum frown and say, “None of that really matters to us.”

The veterinarian looks a little dumbfounded. She looks at them before saying, “Ok. Well, there’s a room through there where you can play with the cats to see which one you’d like. Just let an employee know and they’ll come help you. You can browse our selection.” She smiles like it’s a joke. It all feels a little sad to Luke so he doesn’t smile back. On that note, she leaves from the door they came in and Luke turns to Calum.

“Maybe this wasn’t a good idea,” Luke whispers to Calum. He feels dejected and overwhelmed. There are a few soft mewls coming from the cages around him. Calum loops an arm around Luke’s back and pulls him towards the cages to their right.

“Let’s just look, ok? If not, we can always figure something else out.” Calum smiles at Luke, trying to lift up his spirits. Luke takes a deep breath and starts looking through the cages.

There’s a cat in each cage. Many of them are sleeping in the corners, rolled up into themselves. There’s one with pluffy white fur who flicks her tail at them and another with sleek orange swirls that looks old. Luke almost falls over from the cuteness when he sees Calum bending down low to pet a tabby kitten through the bars of a cage. That’s when Luke decides there is no way he’s leaving here without a cat. Now that he knows how cute Calum looks with a kitten, he’s not denying himself the privilege of seeing that daily.

While Luke is mesmerized, he hears a soft sound from behind him. It’s not a meow or a purr, it’s more a ‘mrp’ or something. It’s adorable though, and Luke tries to figure out which cage it came from.

About eye level with him is a cage with a large black lump in the middle. Luke can’t figure out where the tail or head are, it’s just one giant lump of fur. “Hey, Calum. Look at this one. It’s huge.”

Calum gets up from his spot and peers into the cage. He grins, “That’s two cats.” Luke looks again. That’s when one of the cats raises it’s head to look up at them. She’s small, with a beautiful curvy face and green glass eyes. There’s a white tuft of fur on her chest, but other than that her fur is completely, silky, black. She looks right at Luke.

The other kitten raises it’s head. This one is sleepier and has a more angular head. He gets up and stretches out his back while the girl cat just keeps looking at Luke and Calum.

“Can we...” Luke nods his head at the cage. Calum smiles.

“Yeah. I’ll go get an employee.” While Calum walks off to find someone to open the cage and bring them to the room, Luke turns back to the cage.

The girl cat is still watching him, sprawled out on her side, while the boy cat has curled back into a lump without her. Luke maintains eye contact with the girl. She’s cute, a pretty little cat. She crooks her neck to watch Luke more closely. Luke sticks a finger into the cage, seeing how she’ll react. The girl cat approaches his finger tip slowly. Then she bends her head a bit to run her face along the side of his finger. She gives a little purr. Luke thinks he’s found the right cat.

“So which one did you want to see?” Calum and a new employee walk up to Luke.

“Uh...” Luke starts, getting his thoughts in order, “This one? The one with the white tuft on her chest?” Luke points into the cage while the kitten stares at the new woman.

The employee looks into the cage, “That actually won’t be possible.”

“Oh. Is she already adopted?” Luke asks, a bit downtrodden.

The employee shakes her head, “No, they’re just kind of a package deal. We think they’re brother and sister. Someone found them under their porch last week, and we don’t know how long they were there alone. They can’t be any older than ten weeks, but they’ve grown close and now any time you try and separate them, the girl starts wailing. It’s terrible. The first night we had them in separate cages and she screeched until we moved him into hers. They’ve been well behaved since then, they just need to be adopted together.”

Luke looks up at his little kitten, and then at Calum. Calum raises an eyebrow and Luke takes it as permission, “Can we play with them both then?”

The woman looks surprised, “Yeah. Sure, just let me open this...” She walks up to the cage and undoes the lock, reaching in and grabbing the girl cat first, “Here you go.” She hands the girl cat to Luke.

Luke just looks down at the little kitten. She’s staring up at Luke, but then she blinks lazily. Luke cradles her against his broad chest, a little spot of black against him. He watches as she turns her head to look at the cages. She starts meowing and fussing when she realizes she’s alone.

“It’s ok kitty,” Luke says, “He’s coming along too.”

Just then, the worker hands the other kitten to Calum. Calum takes a step closer to Luke, so that the kittens are close to each other. Luke’s kitten immediately settles down and starts to purr.

“Aww,” Calum coos at the cute little kittens. His bright smile is gorgeous. Yep, they're definitely getting these kittens. He's fighting for them.

“This way,” the worker brings them down a different hallway and lets them into a small room. There’s one chair and a few cat toys on the ground. Calum and Luke sit opposite each other on the ground, Luke with his legs extended to hit Calum’s folded knees. They put the kittens on the floor between Luke’s legs, petting their fur gently.

“They’re so cute,” Calum says. Luke thinks Calum is cute. Well, Luke also thinks the kittens are cute. He pulls his hand off the girl kitten to see what she does. To his delight, she follows after his hand, jumping up to where it’s resting on his thigh. She curls up, kneading his thigh a bit to get comfortable, and sits next to his hand. After a second when he doesn’t pet her, she nudges her nose under his thumb. Luke gives in with a soft smile, her purrs vibrating against his leg.

Luke looks up to see what Calum is doing with his kitten. Calum has a toy in his hand, a plastic stick with a few feathers on the end. He’s moving it around and the little kitten is following it. Whenever the kitten jabs out with his paw or tries to bite the feathers, Calum giggles and it almost hurts Luke to look.

“So,” Luke says, “can the new compromise be two kittens?”

Calum looks up at Luke, his grin so wide on his face, “They can be buddies. Then they won’t get lonely when we’re gone.”

Luke smiles and turns to the worker, “We’ll take them.”

Half an hour and stacks of paper work later, Calum and Luke finally get to leave with their two kittens, a huge bag of kitten chow, and a litter pan.

“Will you drive?” Luke says to Calum, holding out the keys while he cuddles the two kittens against his chest in his one hand. They’re so small. They seem to be content against Luke’s chest, the girl kitten keeps detracting her claws so her paw is stuck to Luke’s shirt but not hitting his skin. Their fur is soft against his hand.

Luke looks over to see Calum pouting. He relents after a second and grabs the keys, “Fine.”

Luke smiles at him, “I’m actually saving you. What if one of them pees on me on the ride home? You don’t want cat pee on you.”

Calum mock glares at him as they approach their car, “I hope they both pee on you.” Luke laughs loud as Calum clicks the doors open and throws the cat paraphernalia in the back seat.

Luke slowly opens the door, making sure to keep the kittens secure against his chest. Once he’s seated in the passenger seat, he puts the two kittens on his lap and buckles his seatbelt. He puts a hand on both of the kittens’ back, keeping them in the crease between his legs.

“What do you want to name them?” Luke asks.

“I don’t know,” Calum says, focused on driving, “Do you want to name the girl after Gladdie?”

Luke stills. He’d actually thought about it inside when they’d all been playing in the small room. But he’s not sure that would be good for him. Besides, there was only ever one Gladdie, he does’t really want to love another one.

“I don’t think so.” Luke tries to find the right words, “It’d be weird saying her name when she’s not around.”

Calum nods his head, “Well, what about something that has to do with her? Like, the Queen of Spades or something?”

Luke sits up a bit straighter and turns to Calum, smirk on his face, “The Queen of Spades?” Luke never told Calum that he always thought that card described Gladdie best.

Calum shrugs as he turns onto the high way, “Yeah. Isn’t that Gladdie’s card?”

Luke is kind of shocked, “How’d you know?”

Calum just smirks and shakes his head, “It’s not that hard babe. Much easier than me being the nine of clubs. Never would’ve figured that out.”

Luke smiles down at the two kittens. The girl is regal and the boy is solid black. They’re fitting names. “What about we name the girl Queen and the boy Spade?”

“Perfect,” Calum agrees, sliding his right hand over to the kittens in Luke’s lap. “So Spade is mine, right?”

Luke shrugs, looking out the car window to see Vegas laid out before him. “They’re kind of both ours.”

Calum laughs and Luke flicks his head back to see what’s so funny. Calum’s eyes are wide as he pats Luke’s thigh and says, “You’re such a sap.”

Luke tries to hide his smile, “Says the guy who wants to name our cats after my dead maternal figure.”

Calum looks shocked, but in that smiley way where the apples of his cheeks stand out, “Hey! It was a good suggestion.”

“Sure it was, Cal.”

“Well, do you want to rename them then?” Calum meets Luke’s eyes for a brief second before turning his attention back to the road.

Luke looks down at Queen and Spade. They really are the perfect names for them. Looks like Calum wins this round.

“No. They’re good names.” Calum straightens up and shoots a proud look at Luke. Luke really loves him.

They drive for a few minutes, Luke petting at the kittens’ ears, before Luke gets an idea. While Calum is paying attention to the intersection, Luke picks Spade up and holds him on the top of Calum’s head.

“Oh no! Where did Spade go?”

“Luke!” Calum mildly freaks out, “Get the cat off my head while I’m driving!”

“But they match your hair! Maybe you’re related, the colors match perfectly.” Luke jokes as Spade kneads the top of Calum’s head. Luke’s barely holding back a laugh as he keeps his grip tight around Spade’s tummy so that he doesn’t fall off Calum’s head.

Calum pouts, hands white knuckled on the wheel, “I’m trying to drive.”

Luke takes pity on him and brings Spade back to his chest, “Sorry Cal.”

It takes Luke rubbing Spade against Calum’s cheek for a solid minute, and Spade reaching out his cute little paw to bat at Calum’s nose, to get Calum to laugh again. Luke thinks they’ll be good cat parents.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...what'd you think? Please let me know, feedback helps me for future stuff. 
> 
> (I don't respond to comments on here just because it feels weird for me to comment on my own stuff but I'm super grateful to anyone who has left a comment! I do respond to stuff on tumblr though!)
> 
> On tumblr at emmybazy.tumblr.com


	5. Spades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Calum get married, Hayley has an announcement, and Luke leaves for Vegas.
> 
> Queen of Clubs is Luke at 34 (September 2030-March 2031), Ace of Clubs starts when Luke is 44 (June 2041), and Seven of Hearts is Luke at 22 (July 2018).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Ok. Finish line time. 
> 
> First, I want to thank everyone who has been reading along and sending me encouragements on here and on Tumblr. Your support means a lot and is the main reason I got through this. I'm really sad to say good bye to this 'verse but it's been fun while it lasted, definitely thanks to you guys. 
> 
> Next, I want to stress once more that I know so little about the boys families and don't base anything off anyone. So all the family stuff is completely lacking any basis. ALSO WARNING: I talk about Calum's past in this chapter. It's short, and I don't know how to tag it without giving everything away, but just know the tags still stand that I have tagged above. If you're really concerned, or are triggered by family tragedy, there's a pretty steep build up so you'll know where to avoid. 
> 
> Otherwise, I hope this last chapter is what everyone wants from it. I know for me, with fan fiction, sometimes authors don't offer much closure, wanting to let it hang and for you to fill in the blanks. I tried really hard to not do that. 
> 
> One last thank you to everyone who is reading this. Writing this has been a roller coaster for me. I hope you enjoyed the ride.

**Queen of Clubs**

“Uh...Cal?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure you’re good with this guest list?” Luke’s trying to be cool but the guest list in front of him is missing some names.

“Yeah.” Calum’s looking over the menu options. They’ve had a hard time deciding if they want to do something more casual and buffet style or if they should go for the more formal three course meal. Hayley had made some mock-up menus so they could see their options.

They’re getting married in six months. It’s exciting and dazzling and a lot more work than Luke thought it would be. Luke can’t imagine how hard wedding planning must be for people who don’t live in high end hotels and aren’t best friends with people who event plan for a living. It must be exhausting.

“But you hardly added anyone,” Luke says. They’re sitting at the kitchen counter after just finishing lunch. All their wedding stuff is spread out around them as well as in a google doc open on their laptops. That’s where Luke is, looking through the guest list he had told Calum to add to last night. Luke had kept it conservative on his side, not sure how many people Calum would want to invite.

Calum, looking at their different cake options, nods slightly, “You did a good job, weren’t many people for me to add.”

Luke folds his hands on the counter in front of him. He looks at the screen, the mouse paused next to the names Calum’s added. They're four friends from Calum's traveling days. Luke takes a deep breath in before addressing the one hurdle of their relationship.

“When are we going to talk about your family?” It hangs in the air. Calum stops shuffling through the pages.

“Not now,” Calum says, ending the discussion. But Luke’s not ok with it this time.

“That was fine when we were just dating, but we’re getting married Calum,” Luke points to the cake pictures in Calum’s hands, “You can’t hide your past from me for our entire lives.”

“I can try.” Calum gets up at that. He walks out of the kitchen and Luke follows behind.

“Calum! Are you serious? Why can’t you just talk to me?” Luke is practically stomping, having a low scale hissy fit. Calum stops in the middle of their living room, arms crossed over his chest.

“Why does it matter?”

Luke’s shocked, “Because we’re getting married!”

Calum scoffs, “I got that Luke. It’s all we talk about.”

“Of course it is! It’s a big deal!” Luke’s taken aback. Does it bother Calum, talking about the wedding? Luke thought Calum was as into it as he was.

Calum falters a bit, “I know. I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. I just don’t understand why suddenly now it’s important for me to tell you about my past.”

Luke softens as Calum’s shoulders droop, “It’s always been important. I was waiting until you were ready but...I don’t understand Cal. We can talk about everything, and we’re going to have to, we’re in this together. I... I want to know everything about you. The good and bad.” Luke is rambling. He doesn’t know how to put it into words why it’s important to him.

Calum sighs and takes a step towards Luke. Luke gets the hint and reaches out to draw Calum into his body. Calum’s head settles against Luke’s shoulder and Luke wraps his arms around Calum’s back. They take a few breaths, skin pressed close.

“Not today, but soon. Ok?” Calum whispers between them. Luke nods his head. He can handle that.

“So the guest list is good?”

Calum nods.

“So I can send out the Save the Dates tomorrow?” Luke drops his lips to the skin below Calum’s ear. It’s not a kiss, Luke just likes the way the warmth feels against his mouth.

Luke can feel Calum’s grin forming and Calum’s hands sneaking around his waist to rest on his lower back, pulling their bodies that much closer together, “Hmm-hm.” It makes Luke smile back, his nose pressed into the close cropped hair at the back of Calum’s neck.

“We’re getting married Lukey,” Calum says with a little squeeze to Luke’s hip.

Luke doesn’t really have words to express how he feels so he says the only thing that comes to his mind, “I love you.”

“Love you too babe,” Calum draws back to kiss Luke. Everything’s great. They’re getting married.

*****

Luke goes to work on Wednesday morning exhausted. Calum and he had stayed up late last night, wedding planning among other things. This morning Calum had hit the snooze button four times and didn’t go downstairs until far too late, Luke struggling behind him.

Beth is at her desk when he gets in. He likes her, she replaced Jim a month ago when he finally got sick of being the hotel’s bad guy. If anything, Beth is more efficient than he ever was and Luke likes working with someone who didn’t break one of his best friend’s hearts.

“Good morning,” Luke says through a yawn.

“Morning Luke,” Beth says before turning to her computer. As he’s passing she swivels in her chair to face him, “almost forgot. Mr. Styles called. He was checking to see if you were in and said to call when you get a chance.”

Luke grimaces. If Harry was calling during work hours he probably wants to go over the 'not as good as they could be' profits they’re bringing in, “Thanks Beth, I’ll give him a call.”

Luke walks into his office. It always feels weird without Liam there on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Luke gets a lot more work done on these days, but it’s lonely and he has no one to bounce ideas off of. Luke glances at Liam’s desk and his mood droops even more when he sees that Liam has already started to take some of his personal stuff home. The little trinket from his honeymoon and the picture of his family are gone. There’s a chair next to the desk, for Zayn as they’ve been teaching him how to do Liam’s job. Luke sighs, not ready to say good bye.

Luke walks over to his desk, turns his computer on, and calls Harry’s desk number. When he doesn’t pick up, Luke tries his cell.

“Look who went into work late this morning,” Harry says as soon as he picks up. There’s a smile in his voice so Luke knows he’s not angry.

“Sorry, you called?”

“Yeah. I’ll come by in a bit.”

Luke sits down in his chair and opens up his email, “What are we talking about? Do you need me to review anything?”

Harry laughs, “No, just wanted to chat.”

“Why did you call the office?”

“Because you never pick up your cell phone,” there’s a murmuring in the background, “Calum agrees that it’s a very annoying habit of yours.”

Luke perks up at that, “Oh so you’re visiting Calum, then?” Luke stresses the 'Calum' so that Harry knows he actually means Louis.

“Yes, but I’m leaving now. Be there in a few.”

Luke leans back in his chair, “See you soon.”

Luke groans at the number of emails he has. He hates that about the administrative part of his job, it’s never over. He can answer a hundred emails and by the time he’s done, there will be a thousand more to answer. There’s no finality, just a continuous stream of things to do. He starts with email number one.

Harry waltzes into Luke’s office a few minutes later, a smile on his face.

“Good morning boss,” Luke smirks up at him. Harry makes a distasteful and surprised face at him.

“No. Don’t do that.” Harry sits down in one of the chairs in front of Luke’s desk and Luke smiles.

“So? What’s up?”

Harry looks around the room, scanning, before turning to Luke, “I was going to try and make small talk and segway, but I’m just really curious about the wedding.”

Luke leans back and laughs at that. Of course Harry’s here to pump him on more details, “I should’ve known.”

Harry grins, “Yeah, yeah. I’m going to check on a few of the east coast hotels next week and so I want to be fully updated before I go.” Harry’s been more interested in the planning than Luke and Calum. For them, it’s work that needs to be done, but for Harry it’s this exciting event that he wants to be a part of.

“Does your wedding fever have anything to do with Louis?” Luke asks.

Harry looks aghast but the corners of his mouth are still soft, “We’ve only gone out five times, we’re hardly at a point to talk floral arrangements.”

Luke, taking a turn towards the serious, asks, “Things are going well right? Between the two of you?”

Harry nods, a small smile on his face, legs crossed in front of him, “Yeah. I like him. We’ll see how it goes. Now, tell me. Calum said you guys did a lot on your days off.”

“Yep. We’ve got a cake, a draft of a menu, DJ. The guest list is finalized and Save the Dates go out next week once they’re printed,” bringing up the guest list reminds Luke of his and Calum’s argument on Monday, “Actually, can I talk to you about something?”

Harry nods so Luke continues, “I feel like it’s not something I should talk about, but it’s been on my mind a lot lately and I need to vent. Just...don’t let it get back to Calum?” With that, Harry realizes this is serious. His face falls into a frown and he leans forward to listen to Luke.

“I promise, it’ll stay between you and me.”

Luke swallows, leaning forward with his arms on his desk, “Calum doesn’t want his family at our wedding.”

Harry’s face scrunches in, “What?”

Luke shrugs, “I don’t know. We never talk about them. I don’t know anything, the furthest he’ll go back when telling stories is leaving home. All I know is that he didn’t add any family to the guest list and he won't tell me why.”

Harry rests his head on his fist, “That’s odd.”

“Right?” Luke holds his arms out. He always did think it was odd, “I never pushed him to tell me in the past because I figured he eventually would, but...I don’t know. I have guesses, like they’re homophobic and kicked him out or something like that, but I don’t actually know.”

Harry says, “That bothers you.”

“Well, yeah,” Luke crosses his arms over his chest, “I can’t tell if he’s ashamed of them or me. And if it’s them, how do I know one day he won’t be ashamed of me as well?”

Harry puzzles over that for a few seconds before speaking, “Well, first, I don’t think Calum would marry you if he was ashamed of you. So don’t worry about that. He's not. And two, do you ever think maybe he doesn’t have a family?”

Luke freezes. No. He has never thought that, “What?”

“I had a friend in college that never talked about their family. Like, on parent’s weekends she’d make up stories about her parents being busy. She eventually told us that she didn’t have parents and she’d been in the foster care system for most of her life.” Harry shifts in his chair while Luke mulls it over, “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions or put thoughts in your head, but knowing Calum, I’m guessing he has a good reason.”

Luke thinks about it. Yeah. There’s got to be a good reason. And Calum will eventually tell him. His worries aren’t founded in anything, just his mind getting away with him with all this wedding stuff. Calum and he love each other and the're getting married.

“Thanks H. For listening.” Luke says, trying to signal he doesn’t really want to talk about it anymore, Harry’s suggestion sitting heavy in his gut.

“Anytime,” Harry smiles over at him, “So, tell me about the cake.”

******

It’s Thursday night and Luke sneaks out of the casino around ten. Harry told Luke he doesn’t have to stay as late anymore, that if the casino really needs him they can always call up and he can be there in a minute. Still, Luke likes being there for at least the beginning of the nightly rush.

They’re gearing up for a good weekend. They have a fair number of rooms booked, considering it’s fall, so most of the staff is happy. A busy hotel is a hotel that won’t go bankrupt. Luke ends up in an elevator with some guests and waits until they’ve gotten off on the eleventh floor before inputing the floor code.

When Luke opens the door, he can hear Calum in the living room. Luke follows the sound of the movie Calum is watching. Calum’s wearing his normal sweatpants and T-shirt like he always wears when he’s at home. He smiles up at Luke when Luke leans over the back of the couch to kiss him hello.

“Hi, how was your day?” Luke asks, still leaning close to Calum.

Calum fidgets a bit, “Ok. I brought down pajamas for you to change into,” Calum points to a pile of clothes next to him on the couch, “so you wouldn’t have to go upstairs.”

Luke smirks, “Sure you don’t want me to just take my clothes off?” Luke’s hand slides down Calum’s chest, pausing over the nine of clubs tattoo. Luke starts pressing kisses to Calum’s neck but Calum must have a different idea because he grabs Luke’s hand and holds it steady, stopping it on its journey south.

“I actually...” Calum trails off as Luke meets his eyes, “I was going to tell you about my family.”

Luke’s heart stops and he immediately pulls back from Calum. His insides are buzzing, wondering what exactly he’s about to find out. Luke starts unbuttoning his shirt. He can feel Calum’s eyes on him but it’s not in the ‘ooh, watching my fiancee getting undressed, sexy’ way. It’s more like Calum is waiting for Luke and he doesn’t know where to look but Luke. Luke hears the click of the TV turning off as he quickly pulls on the clothes Calum brought down.

“Come here,” Calum says, his arms open where he’s sitting on the couch. Luke sits next to him, leaning his head against the back cushion of the couch but looping his arms around Calum. Luke settles in close, the setting intimate. Luke nudges Calum’s cheek with his nose, letting him know to start whenever he feels ready.

“Ok,” Calum takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, “It’s not easy for me to talk about.” Luke just nods his head, not sure what to expect.

“You know those stories on the news where people die from something? And they’re just a number? Like, ‘this terrible thing happened and five people died’ but it doesn’t really mean anything because it’s only a number and it didn’t happen to you?” Calum’s breath is hitting Luke’s face in jagged puffs.

“When I was nine, my sister died from E. Coli,” Luke gasps quietly while Calum continues, “It was peanut butter that they recalled after she got sick. I don’t understand how it got there or what went wrong, but she died.” Calum’s tone is steady but Luke can see the faint cracks in his armor. Luke rubs his thumb over Calum’s shoulder.

“It tore my family a part. We were...we were always happy before, but the house felt weird afterwards. Her stuff was everywhere but my mom didn’t want to move any of it.” Calum leans back away from Luke, putting a hand in his hair and staring at the ceiling, “She played on the softball team and she had dropped her glove on the ground near the front door a few days before she got sick and mom wouldn’t let anyone touch it. It sat there for six months after she died, every day I would come home and put my shoes next to it.”

There are a few silent tears running down Calum’s face. It’s not the thick tracks of someone unable to pin down an emotion, letting them all fall out instead. These are calculated tears, tears of remembrance, tears that Calum has spent time understanding the feeling behind. They escape one at a time, waiting before taking their turn. Luke reaches out with the pad of his finger to brush them away. Luke can’t imagine the feeling that causes tears like that, the feeling of losing someone so integral to your self.

“Yeah,” Calum shifts out of his glazed look and turns back to Luke, “so that really broke us. Everyone in our town knew that we were that family from the news. We couldn’t go anywhere for months after without someone stopping us and saying they were so sorry,” Calum says the last word harshly. It rips itself from his lips, the memories behind it the fuel as it hits Luke’s ears.

“None of us really talked to each other after. Dad spent as much time at work as possible and I got involved with as many clubs as would take me. Mom mourned for years. Eventually Dad left. He couldn’t take it anymore, the constant reminder of how much he lost. Moved east. He’d send me cards on my birthday and Christmas every year,” Calum scratches at his arm, a little unconscious motions contrasting with the look of sadness on his face, “I think he got remarried, I know he has a few other kids with a woman. I’ve never visited.”

“Mom was just...” Luke feels frozen in his seat watching Calum tell this story. A part of him wishes it wasn’t true. He thinks back to what Harry said yesterday. Turns out he was right and Luke is so angry that he was, “It wasn’t good at home. She hovered a lot? We were never really together but she was always around. I felt like I had to be two kids, you know? Like she put all the expectations she had for her entire family on just me,” Calum shakes his head, “It was too much.”

Calum pauses at that. He leans forward, elbows on his knees and head resting on his hands. His back is to Luke, like he’s trying to distance himself from what he’s saying. Luke’s not having that, he’s here for Calum and he refuses to let Calum forget that. He leans forward too, resting one of his hands on Calum’s thigh.

“I’m not proud,” Calum says after a few moments. He still doesn’t look at Luke when he speaks, “As soon as I graduated high school, I took off in the old Chevy Cruise my dad left behind and didn’t call home for a month. When I eventually got back home to visit a few years later, mom was diagnosed with lung cancer.” Calum pauses, a hand running through his hair, “She refused to get treatment. Too many bad memories of hospitals.”

It sits there, the story, hanging in the air. Luke can see Calum by his mother’s bed, begging her to get help, regretful for leaving and wanting to make it up to her. He can see Calum bringing matching bouquets of flowers to a cemetery, gingerly touching the tops of two gravestones and leaving. Luke can’t feel his hand on Calum’s thigh.

“When she died, I sold everything. I have a photo album somewhere, pictures from when we were happy. Everything else I sold as quickly as possible and took what was left after paying off a few debts. It was my cushion whenever I went some where new.”

Calum reaches down to grab Luke’s hand, “Then I came here and you know the rest.” He has a sad smile on his lips as he looks at Luke. There feels like such a disconnect between the boy this story is about and the man Luke fell in love with. Calum, his happy, constantly smiling, laughing, finance is not the boy who lost so much so young. It can’t be true.

Luke turns his hand over under Calum’s grip, lacing their fingers together. He wipes away the beginning of tears from his eyes before wiping away Calum’s. They just stare at each other, Luke grappling for words against the onslaught of emotions.

“I love you,” Luke settles for. “I love you so much.” Luke reaches forward and tugs Calum into him, holding him tightly along the line of his shoulder. Calum tucks his chin over Luke’s shoulder and it all feels so right.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Calum says into Luke’s neck, “It’s easier for me to try and pretend it didn’t happen. I don’t think about it.” Calum takes a deep breath before responding, his voice cracking with emotions, “I miss them so much.”

Luke holds Calum tight against him, “Thank you for telling me.” Luke rocks Calum gently, trying to comfort him. They sit in the quiet, letting it hold them together, like a blanket wrapped around their shoulders.

“You’re my family now,” Calum whispers into the silence, “You, and Hayley, Ash, Harry. That’s my family.”

Luke can’t argue with that.

*****

“Where’s my suite?” Luke can hear from down the hall. He’s rushing, he could recognize that voice anywhere, except that voice isn’t supposed to be here for a few more hours. Thank God Mikey texted when they arrived.

“Mrs. Mckee, it’s so good to meet you.” Good. Ashton is there to help. Ashton’s back is rigid, so different from the relaxed air he has with other guests. Luke smiles to himself. The whole staff has been nervous to meet Gladdie.

“Gladdie, you’re not staying in a suite, you’re in our guest room.” Luke comes up behind Ashton and settles a hand on his shoulder. Ashton’s shoulder drops, happy for Luke’s rescue, “I can help her from here Ash. Just make sure you’re on time for dinner tonight.”

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Ashton says as he walks away with a smile at Gladdie.

Luke turns to Gladdie, “Where’s Michael?”

“Getting my things.” Luke shoots her a look to which she replies, “He offered.”

At that point, Luke can see Mikey walking in with two large carpet bags that Gladdie says have been with her since the 80s. Mikey’s straining a little bit under the weight.

Luke finally takes a second to realize that Gladdie is actually here. She’s here, in his hotel. This is the first time she’s ever been here and he wants to show her everything. The casino he designed, the restaurants he eats all his meals in, the apartments, everything.

Luke bends down to hug Gladdie, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

She pats his back gently, her delicate arms resting gently around his neck, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Her voice is soft. Luke treasures that tone, associates it with all the best moments of his life.

“Are you tired?” Luke pulls back as Mikey approaches.

 Mikey says “Yes” as Gladdie says, “No but I need the Ladies room.” Luke just laughs.

“Good, so I’ll take you on a tour and you,” he turns from Gladdie to Mikey, “Can go upstairs. We’ll meet you later and bring food.”

Mikey asks, “Is it still the same code?”

Luke, not remembering when they changed it in relation to Mikey’s last stay, says, “Hayley’s birthday.”

“Got it,” Mikey starts to wander away before turning back, “Wait, I need a key.”

Luke frowns, “What happened to the one I gave you?”

Mikey shakes his head slightly, “My phone must have messed up the magnetic code or something. All I know is that last time it didn’t work and Calum had to let me in.”

“Oh,” Luke looks over at the desk to see Theresa at bookings. He waves to get her attention. She smiles back and waves. Luke points at Mikey and then gives her a thumbs up. She nods. “Alright, just go over and tell Theresa what you need, she’ll help you out,” Luke points at the desk. Something pokes his shoulder.

“The Ladies room?” Luke turns to see Gladdie looking up at him, unimpressed but with a glint in her eye that he knows means she’s happy to be here.

“This way,” Luke watches the way she puts weight heavily onto the cane. She really has aged. He remembers back when she used to act feeble to control what people thought about her. Now, she has to put on a face and act the opposite.

They do as quick a tour as they can with as little walking as possible. They spend the most time in the casino, Gladdie inspecting the different tables and talking to a few dealers. Zayn comes to say hello while Luke handles a fiasco with a guest.

After that, they head to the Diamond to grab lunch at a special table he reserved with the hostess this morning. The table overlooks the first floor of the hotel, with all the people milling about at the different shops and stands. Luke wanted this table so Gladdie could see it all. He wants her to see exactly what she helped make by helping him for all these years.

Hayley delivers their food personally, “Here you are.” She sets the plates down in front of them.

“Hey,” Luke says to her. He hasn’t seen her yet today, “One of your minions tell you we were here?”

Hayley smiles, “I have them well trained,” she turns to Gladdie and holds her hand out, “I’m Hayley, one of the managers. It’s so good to finally meet you Mrs.Mckee.”

Gladdie takes her hand and shoots a look at Luke, “Why are they all calling me that? Did you tell them to do that? To mess with me?”

Luke laughs while Hayley quickly turns apologetic, “I’m sorry-”

“You’re fine Hayley,” Luke says, “Gladdie, they’re trying to be respectful.”

Gladdie looks up at Hayley with a smile, “No need for that, we’re having a wedding. Respect will get in the way.” Gladdie pulls out the chair next to her, “Sit, we can make fun of Luke together.”

Hayley accepts the invitation and stays for a few minutes, telling stories of Luke’s little mistakes around the hotel. Luke doesn’t mind them ganging up on him.

“As fun as this is,” Hayley says, getting up after telling Gladdie about the time Luke couldn’t get a slot machine open, “I should get going. I’m meeting up with Ashton to help pick out some last minute wedding supplies.” She reaches over to squeeze Luke’s shoulder, “I’ll see you guys at dinner later.”

“Bye dear,” Gladdie says with a polite wave and a smile as Hayley walks off, “I like them.”

Luke breathes a sigh of relief, “Yeah?”

Gladdie nods, “You all seem like a good fit.”

Luke grins, “I like to think we are.”

“Where’s Calum?” Gladdie asks. Gladdie loves Calum. They’d actually gone to Luke’s home for Christmas this year and Calum had spent a lot of time at Gladdie’s place. Luke doesn’t know how it happened, whose idea it was, or how they convinced the others, but Mikey, Calum, and Gladdie had all made Christmas cookies while Luke was out with his parents. They definitely weren’t what you’d consider good, but Luke loved that three of his favorite people had made them so he ate far more than he should’ve.

“He wanted to give us time to catch up. We can go visit him after this if you want.”

Gladdie nods, “When does his family get in?”

Luke bites his lip. He never knows how to answer these questions. His mom asked for Calum’s parents number a few months ago to get to know each other. Hayley made a joke about wishing Calum had hot siblings for the wedding. Mikey asked if Gladdie and he’d need to stay at his apartment this week, so Calum’s family could stay in their guest room. Luke always feels a bit floored after hearing such casual references to people who aren't there.

After first learning about Calum’s past, they’d only talked about it a few more times. Mostly Calum would share his happy memories with Luke, one time even showing Luke the old photos he has. Luke knows this is something private, the details not to be shared, but kept between them.

Luke looks down at his hands for a moment, wishing he had a deck of cards, “They aren’t. He...there’s no one really to come.”

Gladdie’s face pinches at that. After a moment she says, “That poor boy.” It hangs between them a bit, like Gladdie is waiting to see if Luke has any more to share. His lips stay locked, as much as he loves Gladdie, it isn’t his story.

Gladdie nods once, accepting Luke’s silence, “Well, it’s a good thing he’s got us then.”

Luke looks at her, seeing the determined look in her eye. Luke knows this means that she’s going to spend the next week making this the best wedding ever. His throat tightens. This is happening, Calum and Luke are getting married. But even without the piece of paper, Calum is important in his own family's lives. What more could he ask for?

“Finish up, I want to go visit my honorary grandson,” Gladdie says as she takes a sip from her glass.

Luke reaches out to grab her hand, folding his fingers around her small ones and giving a light squeeze, “Thanks you.”

Gladdie nods at him with a soft smile.

*********

“You nervous?” Mikey asks. He’s got a scotch in his hands and he’s oddly somber. It had been his idea to come down to the bar for a drink. Calum was staying in Harry’s apartment tonight so that they wouldn’t see each other until the wedding. After Gladdie had gone to sleep, Mikey had pulled Luke out of his chair and dragged him to the elevators.

Luke can see his parents over by the craps tables, playing on casino credit. He’d given them a couple of hundred in chips, telling them if they won over that amount, they’d have to give back that much. Of course, knowing his parents, they’re going to play it down and he’ll have to take a few hundred out of the chip rotation after they leave. But it’s nice, seeing his parents have fun in the place that he built, something they helped in even if it’s only indirectly.

“No,” Luke answers after a bit of a pause. He wanted to make sure before he answered. Truthfully, he’s not nervous. He’s probably never been more sure of something in his life. Calum’s smile is one of the only truths he knows besides the feel of a standard sized deck in his palm.

“Seriously? Not even a little?”

“Nope.” Luke takes a sip of his beer. This is his second and he’s only allowing himself one more before he calls it a night. Big day tomorrow and all.

Mikey shakes his head slightly, “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who hasn’t been nervous for their wedding day.”

Luke shrugs, “Maybe it will come tomorrow.” He fiddles with the edge of the wrapper on the beer. Jesse is manning this station tonight and had smiled when they sat down, already pulling a beer for Luke from the little refrigerators under each station.

Luke looks over at Mikey who is smiling back. Luke feels really old all of a sudden.

“Think about it Mikey, who else could I possibly end up with? Out of all the years you’ve known me, could you ever have seen me settling down with anyone else?”

Mikey smirks, “No.”

“And that’s why I’m not nervous.”

“Honestly, I never expected you to get to this point,” Mikey says slow and low into his whiskey.

Luke turns with a furrowed eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

Mikey grins, “You know, never thought you’d be getting married.” Mikey must sense that Luke takes it as an insult because he starts to smooth it out, “Not, like, because of you. I never expected you to find someone who would interest you more than a deck of cards, or a person who would be ok to come second sometimes,” Mikey nudges his shoulder against Luke’s and gets a bit of a wistful look in his eye, “Kind of thought we’d always be single, the two of us, and we’d be those creepy old bachelors who hit on people half their age.”

Luke laughs breathily at that, the image not a terrible one. The idea of him and Mikey sitting where they are right now, only twenty years older, is actually kind of funny. But there is also something kind of melancholy about it all, that it won’t ever be like how Mikey pictured it. Luke’s got Calum.

“Sorry man, if I had known I would’ve broken it off with Calum ages ago,” Luke makes the joke.

Mikey smiles, “Then I would have had to go after him.” Luke can’t contain his laughter.

They sit for a few moments, enjoying their drinks. Luke’s still in the residual laughter phase, picturing Mikey and Calum walking down the hallway hand in hand. It’s a bit ridiculous.

“He’s my thing, you know?” Luke finally says. The words taste like truth on his tongue, “It’s like everything is good with him there.” Luke stretches his fingers, pulling and pushing and trying to relieve some of the tension in the joints.

Mikey reaches out and puts a hand on Luke’s shoulder, anchoring them together. Mikey shakes Luke’s shoulder a little bit, “Yeah, I know.”

******

When it had come time to pick a best man, Calum and Luke had been put in a tricky situation. Gladdie was set as the maid of honor, that was solid. They planned on putting a chair on the stage so she could sit during the ceremony. Mikey had texted them pictures of the dress she’d bought for the occasion, white lace draped around her body.

But the best man. The problem was, they had too many. There was no one who stood out as either of their best-above-all-else friend. They had each other for that. Calum and Luke were the most frequently called on each other’s cell phones, but after that, everyone kind of evened off. The only fair thing to do was to have four best men, Mikey, Ashton, Harry, Louis, and one best lady, Hayley. They figured six was a good number for a wedding party and every one of them thought it was a good idea, so they went ran with it. 

While this caused a few complications, and one stellar prank where Ashton had Luke pretend to be Calum’s stripper at his bachelor party, it made for a spectacular wedding planning team. Four out of their six worked together as managers dealing with high stress situations daily and lived out of each other’s pockets. Once Luke and Calum’s final decisions about styling and theme were made, the wedding party took over.

And that’s why Luke wakes up on his wedding day to Harry whispering in his ear.

“Luke...Luke...you’ve got to get up....” Harry coos right next to Luke’s face. Luke nearly punches him, not expecting the owner of the world’s most successful luxury hotel chain to be breathing on his neck.

“God, Harry? What are you doing?” Luke tries to turn over onto his stomach and roll away from the noise.

“Huh,” Harry stands up and Luke can almost feel him pouting. Almost. “Calum said waking you up would be easy.”

“Yeah, well, his wakes normally include a blow job so...”

Harry pounces onto the bed next to Luke, “I could do that too.”

Luke can’t help the snicker that escapes. He can, again, almost feel Harry’s too proud smirk just from the way the air is vibrating around them. Luke rolls one more time, flopping onto his back with his head on Calum’s pillow. He brings his hands up to his eyes and starts to rub away the sleep before he remembers, “I’m getting married today.”

“Surprise,” Harry chuckles. Harry gets back off the bed, “Ash and I are downstairs, we brought breakfast up from the waffle stand in the lobby.”

"Some friends you are. Couldn't even make homemade waffles,” Luke says it with a smile though, hoping Harry knows he’s joking.

“I could’ve, but I was taking care of a last minute flower emergency for somebody’s wedding. Ashton is the one who decided to grab something,” Harry starts to walk out of the room but calls over his shoulder, “They’re you’re favorite!”

Luke stares up at the ceiling of his bedroom. It’s weird to think that Calum slept only a few hundred feet away last night. It’s weird to think that they didn’t sleep next to each other the night before their wedding. Luke has no idea how he fell asleep last night, he was a bundle of excitement when he came to bed with no one to fuck it out of him.

Calum’s side feels so different. It’s closer to the bathroom and farther from the window. The light hits Luke’s eyes funny from where he’s lying. There’s a butt imprint in the mattress from where Calum likes to sit in bed; the bed they’ve been sharing for almost three years now.

“Luke!” It’s Ashton’s voice, “Your waffle is going to get cold!” At that, Luke slowly gets out of bed, uses the toilet, and heads down stairs.

The waffle is delicious. One of Hayley’s chefs had devised a brilliant menu of savory and sweet waffles and the chocolate strawberry concoction is one of Luke’s favorite things in the world, “Thanks guys.”

“Of course, Mr.Groom,” Harry waggles his eyebrows before taking a bite of his waffle piled high with all sorts of fruits.

Ashton looks affronted, “I’m the one who got it.”

Harry winks while Luke just rolls his eyes and says, “Thanks Ash.”

“You’re welcome,” Ashton grumbles.

“So Mikey says you’re not nervous,” Harry interrupts, trying to start a conversation.

“Not really. Where’s Gladdie?”

“She’s down stairs with your parents, making sure the tables and decorations get set up right,” Ashton responds, “She yelled at us and said we could have one day when we weren’t in charge. Really sweet of her.” Ashton smiles brightly around the lip of a glass of orange juice.

“You’re not even a little nervous?” Harry leans forward, looking right at Luke.

Luke shrugs, “No, why should I be. You know me, you know Calum, you know us together. I don’t see anything to be worried about.”

Ashton nods, “It makes sense.”

“Sure, but everyone goes into their wedding day a little nervous. Even couples like you and Calum, attached at the hip and all,” now Harry points with his fork at Luke.

Luke is about to respond when Ashton jumps in, “You remember Luke when we met him though. I told you he seemed like the settling down type, and who better with than Calum.”

Harry raises his hands in defense, “I’m not saying it’s not a good idea, it’s a great idea. I can’t remember being more sure before a wedding. Mikey and I just thought it was weird that Luke wasn’t nervous.”

“Do you think Calum’s nervous?” Luke asks in the midst of their squabble. He’s used to it by now, Ashton and Harry forgetting he’s there.

Ashton and Harry share a look before flicking their eyes to Luke. That’s all Luke needs. Luke asks, “How bad is it?”

They both start shaking their heads and it’s Harry who answers, “No plans to leave you at the alter. He’s only...marriage is a big deal and he’s reacting appropriately.”

Luke spears a piece of waffle and swirls it in the chocolate sauce on his plate, dabbing whipped cream on the side before eating the bite. It gives him enough time to think, “Ok. Good.”

“It’s really not bad at all Luke. It’s normal wedding behavior and we’re all confused why you aren’t showing it,” Ashton looks at him with a hint of assuredness and confusion, an odd mix.

Luke thinks about it. It must be the cards, “Well, it’s like a poker hand. I’m not holding out unless I know I’m going to win,” The analogy obviously doesn’t hit. Luke can’t believe how little they know about poker, they walk through the casino with him all the time, “I don’t know, I think I’ve always just been sure of Calum. Ever since that night we met, I’ve always known to bet on him and I’d win. He’s my lucky charm.” Luke thinks about the nine of clubs tattooed on Calum’s chest. How could he not be sure about Calum with that as a constant reminder?

They sit in contemplative silence for a few moments before Ashton’s phone buzzes with a text. He picks it up, reads the message and says, “We’ve got to get going. Hayley says they’re going to head down around three so we should be down there by two thirty.”

Luke looks to the clock and sees that it’s almost one. He doesn’t have much to do other than shower and put on his suit. They had set up the wedding so that instead of the wedding and reception being two separate events, they rolled it all into one. The tables for their two hundred guests were set up in the ballroom where they’d sit while the ceremony happened on the stage. After the knot had been tied, they were quickly going to put another table up for the wedding party and start the reception.  

“What do we have to do?” Luke asks, finishing off the last of his breakfast.

“Get ready for a wedding!” Harry says, standing and taking their plates, leaving them in the sink. Luke is positive they’ll still be there when he and Calum get back from their honeymoon to the Style’s Sydney hotel.

“Where’s your tux?” Ashton asks.

“I don’t have one,” Luke replies. But then he wonders, “Wait. Did Calum get a tux?”

Harry pouts, “He’s being just as tight lipped about what he’s wearing as you are. So you didn’t get a tux?”

“No, I found a suit though.” Luke gets up, headed for the guest room closet. He’d hid it knowing Calum wouldn’t look there. Luke has no idea where Calum has been keeping his outfit. It’d been a thing for them. There aren’t too many crazy things you can do with a suit, but they’d wanted to keep it a secret from each other. It was more because of a competitive nature of who could look best and less about sappy wedding traditions. Calum and Luke hadn’t even planned to do the whole ‘not see each other’ before the wedding thing, it was their friends who’d forced it upon them.

Harry and Ashton are on his heels. Luke’s proud of his purchase. It’s something no one will really expect. He pulls the garment bag out and lays it on the bed, sliding down the zipper.

“That’s a nice suit,” Ashton reaches out to feel the material.

“Don’t touch it!” Luke says.

“Why not?”

“You just ate a ton of greasy stuff and haven’t washed your hands!”

Harry is flicking his eyes between Luke and the suit, “It’ll look great on you Luke.”

Luke preens. He knows. As soon as he put it on, it felt like the one, special. It’s a nice grey blue, with three buttons down the front and narrow lapels. The pants he had tailored perfectly. It is the suit he’s getting married in.

Luke zips the garment bag back up and leaves Ashton and Harry to go get ready. Once upstairs, he lays the suit down on his bed and goes to take a shower.

It’s odd. He’s getting married. Like, tomorrow he’ll wake up and Calum will be his husband. They’ll have a bunch of legal rights they didn’t have before, file taxes together.  On paper, that’s all that’s happening. They’ve been living together for years, have had joint bank accounts for months. It shouldn’t be as big a deal as everyone seems to be making it out to be.

As Luke showers, the water falling to the tile floor, he realizes that yeah, this is a big deal. He and Calum are telling a bunch of people who love them that they only ever want to love each other. But Luke still isn’t nervous. Just the thought of Calum makes him smile, he doubts that will change.

He dresses slowly. Ashton and Harry might have a lot of coordinating that they need to do, but Luke has been left task free. The suits fit perfectly, just how he paid for it to fit. He ties his shiny black shoes and puts in the cufflinks that he gave Calum last year. He’d stolen them from Calum’s dresser a few days before and hid them, wanting to wear Calum’s initials at his wrist when they get married.

Ashton and Harry usher him into an elevator at two twenty. They head down the elevator, nothing really to say at this point. There are easy smiles across all their faces.

“Ok, go find a place to hide,” Harry shoos Luke away.

“What? I want to see the ballroom,” Luke tries and follows but Ashton and Harry block his path.

“It’s a surprise,” Ashton says, reaching out to grab Luke’s shoulder, “It’s great, I promise. Trust us and go find somewhere to wait until we do the big reveal.”

Luke turns and walks away. He finds the coat closet he sat in when he had to make up his speech the day before the casino opened. The day he met Calum. This whole day is so reminiscent of that one that it hurts Luke’s heart a bit. The memory of Calum’s smile on that day, when Luke had pulled him out of the audience, it’s still so bright in Luke’s head. Luke can only guess when they get married today, there will be a similar smile on Calum’s face.

Luke can’t sit down. He doesn’t have a deck of cards. All he can do is wait until three when he’s supposed to have some grand reuniting with Calum. It’s all planned out to the T. Luke thinks that Harry is mostly practicing for his own wedding.

Luke doesn’t know how long he’s been in the closet before someone opens the door. He’d been staring at the back wall, thinking back to his early Calum memories. He hears the steps approach outside the door, stop for a few seconds, and then the door opens.

“Hey,” Calum closes the door behind him and squishes up behind Luke. There’s plenty of space, but it seems Calum doesn’t care.

“You ruined it,” Luke says behind a smile. Luke turns and leans up against the back of the closet. Calum moves forward, caging him in. Luke’s not complaining.

“You look good,” Calum leans in and starts to kiss Luke. This is much better than staring at the wall. Luke reaches up and sneaks his hands under Calum’s jacket and around his waist, thumbs digging into Calum’s abdomen and fingers resting along the swell of his hip.

Calum pulls back only long enough to ask, “What were you doing?”

Luke rests his head back against the wall, “Waiting.”

Calum laughs, “I know that, but what were you doing?”

“I forgot my cards. Thanks for saving me,” Luke lets go of Calum’s waist, the interaction going from hot to sweet in a few seconds. Instead he pulls Calum in closer, wrapping his arms around Calum’s upper back, still under the jacket. It makes Luke feel safe.

Calum’s arms are slung around Luke’s hips and his nose is in Luke’s cheek. After a few beats of silence, Calum says, “Happy wedding day.”

Luke can’t help but laugh, something just for Calum, “Back at you.”

They hear two sets of footsteps walking down the hallway. The voices filter in through the closed door.

“How did you lose him?” Hayley is one of the pairs of feet, the heels making a rhythmic pattern as she walks.

“Me? You guys were the ones who came down early,” And Ashton is the other set.

The footsteps walk past the closet and keep walking. Hayley responds, “Bastards probably found each other. They could be hiding anywhere...” Luke has to bring his hand up to cover Calum’s mouth to hold in the laughter. Once he thinks they’re safe, Luke let out a burst of laughter of his own.

Calum reaches up to move Luke’s hand from his mouth but pauses halfway to dropping Luke’s hand, “Why are you wearing my cufflinks?”

Luke shrugs, head resting on Calum’s shoulder, “I wanted to.”

“So did I,” Calum says, a bit put out, “Figured it was appropriate since you gave them to me.”

“But they’re your initials, so I get to wear them.” Luke feels like he’s won that one.

Luke stands up to his full height, just slightly taller than Calum. Luke asks, “You want to pretend we didn’t see each other? For them?”

Calum grins, “Yeah,” Calum looks down, pulling the sleeve of his shirt away from his wrist. He’s wearing Luke’s watch, “but we’ve got ten minutes until they need us.” Calum steps froward and starts kissing Luke again. Luke pushes Calum back against the opposite wall and pulls back to look down at Calum’s wrist.

“Why are you wearing my watch?” Luke asks, lips turning up at the corners.

Calum just grins and pulls Luke down by the back of his neck, “You’re not the only one who gets to be sentimental on our wedding day,” joy rushes through Luke’s veins at the words, “Come on, make out with me in a closet.”

Calum has to kiss the laughter out of Luke’s mouth before Luke can properly reciprocate.

*****

“Hi,” Calum says.

“Hey,” Luke says back.

They’re standing just on the edge of the stage, a few of the employees setting up the table on the raised area. The DJ has started playing music and everyone is talking amongst themselves. Hayley went off to the kitchens to make sure everything was ready to be brought out. Harry and Ashton are making sure all the table settings are in place.

Calum leans his head on Luke’s shoulder. They’re married now. This is their fifth minute of being a married couple and Luke already prefers it to not being married. The whole ceremony went by quite quickly. Their procession had been Harry and Louis, then Mikey and Ashton, followed by Gladdie and Hayley in their matching white dresses. Calum and Luke had walked down together, hand in hand, weaving through the aisle that had been set up between the different tables.

It felt like only a minute between them stepping up to the alter and saying their vows. Luke could hardly stop from laughing the entire time, it felt so formal. There was something nice about looking over at Calum and seeing he was rolling his eyes as well. Luke could see over Calum’s shoulder that Ashton was well on his way to tears, but Calum and Luke were having a ball.

They wrote their own vows, silly things that made everyone laugh but in reality meant the world to Calum and Luke. Then Luke got his ring, that he’d been unwilling to take off, back when Calum got his. Everyone applauded when they kissed, laughing into each other’s mouths. Now it was onto the party.

Luke turns his face into Calum’s hair. His husband’s hair. For what Luke didn’t feel in nerves he’s making up for in excitement. It’s just all so fantastic, Calum and he are legally basically one person. Calum’s hand squeezes Luke’s and Luke can’t believe any of that actually just happened.

“Hello!” Harry steps up to the mic, “Dinner is going to be just a few minutes more, but I figured since you’re going to have to sit through five speeches tonight, we might as well start out now!” Harry waves them to go sit at the two seats at the center of the table.

“Just a few more hours and then we get two weeks of vacation,” Calum whispers in Luke’s ear before he drags Luke up onto the stage. They find their seats as Harry turns back to the crowd, his body facing them as he smiles out.

“Now, Hayley and I had a good fight over who would get to tell this story. Luckily, her job security was on the line so she relented,” the crowd laughs a bit as Harry grins out at them. Luke’s hand finds Calum’s thigh under the table and Calum’s arm rests gently on Luke’s shoulders, thumb already starting to massage Luke’s neck. It feels like a cliche.

“Calum and Luke’s relationship has been just as vital to this hotel as the marble bricks of the lobby floor,” Harry pauses, glancing back at them, “I don’t know how we would’ve kept morale up in those first few months without them to gossip about.” Their friends and family politely laugh and Calum taps Luke’s neck. Harry smiles back at them.

“It was in this very spot that our Luke pulled Calum on stage. As soon as they stepped off stage, there were already betting pools on how long it would take for them to get together,” Harry pauses. He tugs on the hem of his jacket, before turning back to the mic, “I remember, most of us thought it would be one of those flings, the boss and the employee. I had known Luke a few years by then, and none of us really knew what type of person he would end up with.” It’s odd hearing all this from Harry now. The majority of the people sat at the tables were here for what he’s saying and are laughing because they remember. Luke remembers thing a lot differently, he remembers falling in love.

Harry adopts a more serious tone, hands in his pockets, “I remember the day I figured out that Luke and Calum were serious. It was the first time I came back to the hotel to check in. I invited Hayley, Ash, and Luke for dinner to catch up on everything going on in the hotel...” Luke remembers this night. Calum raises his eyebrows. Luke’s kind of confused on where Harry’s going with this story.

“I’m making dinner, and in walks Calum,” Harry continues, “with Hayley. I remembered him obviously, but I had no idea what he was doing in my apartment.” Harry throws a hand up and that gets a few laughs, “Anyways, he and Hayley sat down at my counter and we chatted a bit. I can’t remember what about, probably some story about the bar,” Harry shrugs, “but what I do remember is when Luke came in.”

Harry pauses for effect and Luke rakes his mind for any embarrassing thing that he could’ve done that night. It was just another Sunday dinner, why was that one so special?

“When Luke and Ashton came in,” Harry says slowly, “it was like Calum and Luke were already and old married couple. They didn’t even look at each other, Luke said hello to me and Hayley while walking right up behind Calum and hugging him. And the conversation just continued, like Luke had been there the whole time.”

“That whole night, I watched and was shocked how in just four months, two people had clicked so much. It’s like they were on a different wave length than the rest of us, they still are really. But seeing it, right in front of me back then, it made me realize that some relationships are just good.”

Luke looks over at Calum. Luke knows Harry has always idolized their relationship a bit, put them on a pedestal. But he didn’t realize how long it had been, or why.

Harry smiles, “Some of you know that all of the managers get together on Sundays for dinner, to talk about the week, and I go when I can. I like to think of that as the first one. Even though Calum was only a bartender then, he added something into the mix that hadn’t been there before. The four of us had gotten so used to talking business, and Calum reminded us that we were all friends.” Calum squeezes Luke’s hand. Luke thinks back and realizes Harry is right, it was when Calum started coming that they actually started to have fun again.

Harry addresses the crowd, “All the weddings I’ve been to, you get representatives from either side of the aisle standing up and saying why one of the newlyweds is great,” Harry pauses, “You’re not going to get that tonight. And it’s not because we don’t think they’re great. It’s because we can’t really tell the difference between them at this point. Calum and Luke are a part of the foundation of this hotel. We don’t really know where one of them starts and the other stops, so we’re going to tell stories of why we’re so glad they met.” Harry smile over at them and raises a glass, “To the married couple, even though you’ve been married in my eyes for years.”

Everyone in the room says the toast and drinks. Luke leans over to kiss Calum. He’s glad they met too.

The reception picks up speed after Harry’s speech. The servers bring dinner out and Hayley tells the story of the time she came up to their apartment during their first vacation, they day before Calum's big surprise party. She tells it like they were rude to her, wrapped up in each other, and everyone laughs. But Luke knows she’s speaking from her heart, and that she’s so happy for them. After her, Louis has a bit of fun complaining about how often Luke visits Calum or Calum leaves to visit Luke during work. Luke blushes a bit, Louis making them sound a bit unprofessional with their boss, technically, sitting a few chairs down. But Luke looks out of the corner of his eye and sees Harry laughing so Luke figures they’re safe.

“Wow, the bakery really out did themselves,” Calum says to Luke. Luke sees where he’s looking and Calum’s right. The cake is huge. Each layer has fondant suits on it, each piece is a different size and they fit together to make abstract patterns. It looks really good.

“We’re not smushing in each other’s faces, right?” Luke asks, eyeing the cake on it’s pedestal being wheeled out from the kitchen.

Calum grins, “No, why waste good cake?” Luke loops his arm around Calum’s shoulder. Calum keeps reaffirming that getting married was a great decision on their part.

They cut the cake and eat it while Ashton tells a rousing story about the time they went to a magic show together and he felt like a third wheel. Like he normally does when Ashton is involved, Calum laughs constantly at even the unfunniest of jokes. Ashton bounces off Calum and laughs at his own jokes, causing a five minute story to take ten minutes. Luke can’t be mad about it when Calum’s smile reaches from ear to ear.

Finally, Mikey gets up and stands at the microphone. Gladdie’s sat next to Luke, holding his right hand while he holds Calum’s left. Luke knows that this is both Gladdie and Mikey’s speech, deciding to co write one rather than each take the stand. Luke doesn’t know how he feels about it but understands why.

“So, hello,” Mikey says when he gets in front of the microphone, “many of you don’t know who I am because I’m not one of your bosses,” that gets a laugh from the crowd. Most of them do know Mikey, from seeing him around the hotel so much. Sometimes Luke doesn’t even know Mikey is at the hotel until he sees him walking down a hallway with Ashton or sitting at the bar with Harry. He’s well loved here.

“Gram and I were trying to figure out what to say. And we realized, when we saw who was coming, that none of you really knew Luke before Calum,” Mikey scratches the back of his head, “Which is weird, because you all support them, but you don’t know why.” Mikey looks back at Gladdie who nods back at him.

“I’ve known Luke since I was fourteen and he tried to steal my grandmother,” people in the audience laugh, but Luke sobers. This is...Mikey is going to be serious. Luke was convinced this was going to be another funny story about Calum and Luke and how Calum stole Luke from Mikey. But...Luke can tell it’s not.

“And one thing you have to know about Luke is that he loves cards,” there’s more reaction from the audience but Mikey ploughs on, “He was obsessed. We lived together and I would find old decks everywhere. And, as much as it pains me to say it, it wasn’t exactly healthy.” Mikey swallows and Luke stills.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you,” Mikey turns to look at Calum, “I have no idea how you did it Cal, but you’ve gotten Luke more out of his shell in three years than I have since I met him. And I’ve tried,” one of Mikey’s hands comes out, as if it’s holding all those instances of trying in the palm of his hand, trying to show everyone, “But it seemed the more and more I tried, the worse it got. But you came in and gave Luke something to love more than cards. Because of that, I’ve gotten to know my best friend more in the past three years than I have in the previous decades.”

“Gram and I, we were always worried that Luke would never look up from a deck of cards. So thanks Calum. Thanks for giving him something to look up to.” Mikey steps back from the microphone and starts slowly walking back to his seat.

Luke feels one tear slide down his cheek. He never realized...he didn’t know. Gladdie squeeze his hand and he turns to look at her. Her eyes are wide and her smile soft. “I didn’t...”

“It’s ok, you’re here now.” She says, patting his thigh.

Luke turns to his left to see Calum’s not there. Luke looks behind him and sees Mikey and Calum caught in a tight hug. Their postures, completely turned into each other, feel like a thank you and a your welcome from both sides. Mikey pulls back with his lips in a line across his face and pats Calum’s shoulder. Calum lets him go.

Luke steps in to hug Mikey next. It’s a good, strong, solid hug, something that comes out of necessity at big occasions.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Luke says into Mikey’s ear.

“I did. You never listened.” That stirs up some memories in Luke’s mind, of Mikey confronting him about the cards in his hand and Luke blocking it out by focusing on trick shuffles.

“I’m sorry,” Luke says, face pressed into Mikey’s neck.

“It’s ok now, I’m just glad I got to know who you are behind the cards,” Mikey says, pulling away. Luke gives him one more smile before letting go and turning towards Calum.

Calum looks beautiful in his black suit, hands in his pocket, waiting patiently for Luke and Mikey to finish their hug. Calum’s face lights up when Luke takes a step toward him. Calum raises his hand to Luke, “Dance with me?”

Luke grins and grabs Calum’s hand, tugging him down to the makeshift dance floor in the center of the room as the notes to their wedding song start to play.

*****

“I can’t sleep. Entertain me,” Calum whispers, so as not to wake up the other passengers.

They’re on the plane to Sydney. They’d rushed out after the reception, changing quickly. Ashton had driven them to the airport and they boarded ten minutes before their gate closed.

“But I’m sleeping,” Luke mumbles against Calum’s shoulder. His head hasn’t really left this position since they boarded. Calum took the window seat and Luke took that as permission to use Calum as a pillow. He’s quite comfortable.

“Nope, we’re married now, you have to entertain me,” Luke grins at Calum’s words. They’re married now. Going on six hours. Luke guesses he can stay up a little longer.

“It was good right?” Luke says, picking his head off of Calum’s shoulders, “We had a good wedding.”

Calum nods, “Everyone was just happy the bar stayed open after we left.”

Luke laughs softly at that. Calum reaches out to fix his hair from where he was lying down. Calum says, “Mikey’s speech got to you, didn’t it?”

Luke nods, “Got to you too.”

“He’s already said some of it to me before. You looked...you looked really surprised,” Calum finishes with, keeping his hand on Luke’s neck.

Luke thinks about it. He was surprised. The thought scares him, of people worried about him. He always saw cards as his closet friends, never as what was preventing him from having full relationships with others. He always thought it was because people lost interest in his tricks, when really he never was interested enough in them.

“What did you see in me? Back when we first met?” Luke asks.

Calum shrugs, mirth in his eyes, “You were hot.”

Luke reaches out to pinch his side, keeping his hand against Calum’s ribs, “Seriously.”

Calum goes into thinking mode. He asks, “Well, what did you see in me?”

“You were the nine of clubs,” Luke responds, “and you were hot.”

Calum smirks, “Romantic.” Luke settles back in with his head against Calum’s shoulder, figuring the conversation is over and that he’ll never really know. But then Calum takes a breath and starts talking.

“I guess it was how much everyone respected you. Like, Liam acted like he was your servant or something. And the way people looked at you was like you were their idol, but to me you seemed kind of....weird. You were funny and quirky, but no one really seemed to pay attention to that,” Calum shrugs, Luke’s head lifting with his shoulder, “I don’t know. You were like a puzzle and I wanted to figure you out. I told myself I wouldn’t leave until I did.”

Luke lets that wash over him. Luke remembers Calum standing up on the stage while Luke asked him to pick a card, Calum’s smile pointed at him, not at the cards or the crowd. It felt like Calum was trying to pick him a part.

Luke raises his head to meet Calum’s eyes, “So does that mean you haven’t figured me out yet?”

Calum thinks for a second before shaking his head, “I think it’s more that I figured out I wanted to be with you, whether I could get in your head or not.” Calum says it with a soft smile at the end.

Luke takes Calum’s left hand in his, right over the arm rest. He loves the way the ring looks on Calum’s finger, the cut outs well defined with his dark skin underneath. Their fingers fit so well together, an ease to it that makes Luke feel at home.  Luke lays back down on Calum’s shoulder, snuggling in close, his nose hitting the jut of Calum’s jaw.

“Thanks for staying,” Luke says, lips grazing Calum’s neck.

Calum turns his head towards Luke, pressing a kiss to his temple, “Thanks for letting me.”

 

**Ace of Clubs**

Queenie is getting even fatter. She’s practically suffocating Luke, sitting on his chest. He’s lying back on the couch, feet in Calum’s lap. Calum is rubbing circles into his ankles, right around the spot where Luke got a tattoo for their tenth wedding anniversary a few months ago. It’s simple, just their initials and the date of their wedding along the side of his foot. Calum has a matching one on his right foot.

“So, what’s up?” Luke asks once he’s shifted Queenie into the space between his ribcage and the couch. He tilts his head back to see Hayley in the armchair. Ashton is opposite, in the other armchair. Grace is at a show tonight with friends and Hayley’s boyfriend is traveling for business. The jittery and careful presence that’s surrounded Hayley all night leads Luke to believe that she planned this, a night with only them.

Hayley looks up from her chocolate cake, leftover from the night before. Her eyes are wide, but she quickly glances around. Calum and Ashton are watching her just as carefully as Luke is. She puts her plate down on their coffee table and brushes her skirt off.

“I think it’s time I left.”

The words hang in the air between all of them, unable to move. Luke’s first thought is to say ‘it’s still early, what’s on your mind’ but then he realizes the actual meaning of her words. He sits up and swings his feet on the ground at the same time that Ashton gasps out, “What?”

Hayley looks down at her nails before looking up to meet all their eyes in turn, “I’m fifty five. I’ve worked my ass off since I was sixteen. I’m in a position that if I retire now, I could live comfortably and finally take a break.” She gives a weak laugh at that.

Luke feels like his eyes are going to fall out of his head. He can’t even blink, mouth slightly open in shock. Hayley? Leave? But...it’s their hotel. It won’t work without her.

No one speaks. Hayley waits for their reactions. Ashton sits back with his hand massaging his temple. Calum wraps his fingers around Luke’s wrist and Luke can’t move.

“Say something,” Hayley says into the silence, sitting forward.

“No,” Luke says, “You’re not allowed to leave.”

She’s not. Who would Luke have lunch with basically every day? Who would Luke tell funny Calum stories too? Who would cuddle and watch movies with Queenie and Spade when Calum and Luke want to go out for a date night? What would they do without Hayley? And that doesn’t even take into account the fact that the hotel would crumble without her holding it up with her smiles and wit.

Hayley sighs. She shifts in the chair again, “I’m going to have to at some point. Now seems like as good a time as ever. Jamie is set to take over, I’ve taught him practically everything he needs to know about doing my job. It’ll be easy to transition me out over the summer, give him practice with the busy season,” She pauses, “And Andy is moving his home base to San Francisco. This way I’d be able to actually spend time with him.” She grimances. Luke knows how hard she has tried to make this relationship work, both of them really, putting up with enormous obstacles and they’ve lasted a year because of it.

Luke nods. Ashton still looks upset. Calum is staring down at the ground.

It’s Ashton who speaks next, “We’re going to miss you.”

Hayley nods, “I’ll miss you too.”

Luke reaches out to pet Queenie, ease some of the nerves in his gut, “Jamie has huge shoes to fill.”

Hayley holds Luke’s eye contact for a second before flicking her eyes over to Calum, “Cal? What, are you happy to get rid of me?” She says it as a joke but when Calum looks up he has a severe frown on his face and his eyes are full of hurt.

“Why didn’t you talk to us before now?” He sits forward, voice passionate, “You can’t expect us to be ok with you telling us you’re leaving. We’ve been friends for years, you didn’t think to bring it up sometime before this? ‘Hey, I’m thinking about retiring soon? What do you think?’” Calum scowls, “This is something you bring up years in advance, plan for. You didn’t think to include us in that?”

Hayley’s mouth is in a thin line, “It’s my decision-”

Calum hits his chest with his fist, “But it affects all of us! We’re a fucking family Hayley! You can’t just tell us you’re leaving in three months. It’s kind of a shitty thing to do.” With that Calum gets up and stomps to the stairs. Luke is frozen, watching his husband leave. Hayley is upset, her hand over her mouth and tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.

“I didn’t think...” she starts but Luke cuts her off.

“No, he was in the wrong there. He’ll apologize the next time he sees you, promise.” Luke’s eyes dart to the stairwell, knowing he should probably go check on Calum. He knows this is hitting a nerve that Calum has buried deep inside, memories from his childhood that he still doesn’t share with anyone but Luke.

Hayley looks a bit like a zombie, “I’ve never seen him like that.”

Luke cringes, “It doesn’t happen much.” Luke glances around, they haven’t made that much of a mess. Good, he won’t have to clean up now, “I actually should-”

Ashton stands, “We got it. It’s ok.”

“I’m sorry.” Luke says to Hayley, bending to hug her.

“I’m the one who should be sorry. He had a point.” Hayley seems to waiver in his arms.

“Hey,” Ashton says from the entrance way, “It’s your decision. We’ll support you no matter what you choose, Calum too. I think we all just feel a little blindsided.”

“Same as what Ashton said, we’re going to support you. But it was hard to hear.” Luke offers up a small smile that Hayley returns. She steps out of his arms and walks with Ashton to the door.

“Thanks Luke, see you tomorrow.” Luke waits to hear the door click behind them before taking the stairs up to see Calum.

As expected, Calum is sitting on the edge of their bed, head propped up on his fist. His eyebrows are furrowed and lips pouted. His hair is turning more salt than pepper every day and Luke wonders how many of the laugh lines he was the cause for. Calum looks up when Luke leans against their bedroom doorway, arms crossed.

Calum slides his face into his hands, “I know, I was rude. I’ll apologize.”

Luke walks to the bed and sits next to Calum, “Sooner is better than later.”

Calum stays still a moment before grabbing his phone out of his pocket, “I’ll be quick.” Luke drapes his arm over Calum’s shoulder, gently rubbing as Calum dials Hayley’s number. Luke leans his head on Calum’s right shoulder and Calum brings the phone up to his left ear.

It rings once before Hayley answers. Her voice is muffled on the other end so Luke listens to what Calum is saying, “Hey,” Calum pauses, his fingers clench around his thigh and Luke covers them with his own, “I’m really sorry. You know I didn’t mean any of that. I...” Luke tries to loosen Calum’s fingers as Calum tries to find the words, “I’m going to miss you.” Hayley says something and Calum nods, “Yeah, that’s good. I’ll call you when I’m free? Ok, see you then.” Calum lowers the phone, ends the call, and drops the phone on the carpet. Luke’s grip on Calum tightens.

Calum turns into Luke, focusing his attention back on Luke. Calum’s cheek rest against Luke’s and Calum lets out a deep breath. Eventually Calum says, “We’re getting lunch tomorrow. To talk it out.”

Luke pulls back. Calum looks young. Growing up has taught Luke that no one ever really feels like an adult. That feeling of not knowing what you’re doing and grasping at what makes you happy is something that he thought would go away when he got to a certain age. But he’s still as unsteady as he was when he was twenty years old and staring down a college education. It’s clear in Calum right now, the rug pulled out from out of him with the thought of losing someone else, that no one ever completely grows up.

Luke reaches up and puts his hand on Calum’s cheek. Calum leans into it, closing his eyes. Luke thinks Calum’s so beautiful, his plush lips and long lashes haunting in the dark room. Even after all these years, Calum is distractingly gorgeous. Luke’s thumb traces the lines of Calum’s temple, trying to be soothing.

Calum raises his hand to wrap his fingers around Luke’s wrist, just a light pressure against his pulse. Calum opens his eyes slowly, meeting Luke’s. Calum sighs softly before speaking, “I already lost one family. I don’t want to lose another.”

Luke can feel his heart shatter in his chest. They don’t talk about Calum’s past, haven’t for years, but Luke can recognize the cracks in Calum’s facade that come from being reminded of his childhood. The Calum in front of him is the one who had to attend funerals far too young and far too often. Except now he has Luke to hold him together.

Luke drags Calum’s body into his, hauling him by his neck into Luke’s waiting arms. Luke lays back down on their bed and brings Calum’s with him, cocooning him. Calum wraps his arms around Luke’s back, burrowing his face into Luke’s shoulder. Luke’s hands pick up a steady pattern on Calum’s back.

“You’re not losing anyone,” Luke whispers into the silence, right into Calum’s hair.  “We’ll still see her and she’s only a phone call away. And everyone else has got a few more years in them. You’re not losing us.” Luke stops for a moment, his own anxieties taking over for a second. His worst nightmares blind him but he pushes through to be there for Calum like Calum has been there for him so many time, “And me. You’ll never lose me.” Luke’s hands still when he finishes with, “And we’re all worth it, right?”

Calum turns his head so his lips are resting against Luke’s neck. He doesn’t say anything, but Luke can feel the warmth of Calum’s mouth against his skin and knows that Calum is trying to comfort him back. Their fears are the same, they just come in different shapes.

Luke doesn’t know what causes it to happen, a slight shift in the temperature or the sound of the refrigerator downstairs, but something sparks Calum into moving. Calum goes from leaning heavily into Luke to hovering over him. One of Calum’s elbow is resting next to Luke’s face and the other hand trails down Luke’s chest. Calum’s wide eyes watch Luke’s face, taking it all in.

It doesn’t take Luke long to get the picture. He slides his hands down Calum’s waist to where his shirt stops and runs his hands up Calum’s back under the shirt, pushing it up. Calum leans down and presses one long hard kiss against Luke’s lips before getting his tongue involved, a promise. A ‘yes, you’re worth it.’ After that, Luke gives into that same desire for Calum’s skin against his that’s been a constant for over a decade. The knots of Calum’s spine feel smooth against Luke’s fingertips.

 

******

“You have to come for a least a few hours,” Luke is standing in his office doorway trying to convince Zayn, the martyr, to come to Hayley’s retirement party with him.

Zayn shrugs, “I’ve got a few more emails to respond to and then I’ll walk the floor. It’ll take an hour.” Luke sets his lips in a tight line but Zayn won’t budge.

“Fine, but I’m not saving any cake for you.” Luke’s already a few minutes late. It’s a relatively large affair, they took over and decorated the ballroom. Luke already worked it into the schedule so everyone on the floor would get a long enough break to stop by for some of the extravagant food the kitchens turned out for the event.

“Ready?” Sam is waiting by the door with her purse in one hand and a card in the other. Luke likes her a lot, it was sad to see Beth go but it worked out best for everyone. Sam is loud, efficient, and has helped brighten up the office in these last few months while they transition Hayley out of her position.

They walk down to the ballroom, Luke carrying his present for Hayley’s going away. It’s a relatively big box, so he decides to stash it in his coat closet. On Calum and his fifth anniversary, they wrote their names in a corner with the date before defiling the closet. Maybe it was them trying to hold onto their youth or prove that age is only a number; that recklessness cannot be ironed out with expensive suits and cologne. Either way, they enjoyed themselves and Luke grins as he hides the gift at the top of the shelf right near their names.

“It sounds like quite the party in there,” Sam says, hip popped as he rejoins her near the entrance.

“Did you expect anything less for Hayley?” Luke loops an arm around her shoulders and walks with her into the party.

“To be honest, I expected more. Where are the strippers?” Sam gestures around at the room and Luke laughs.

“Hey!” Luke looks over to see Hayley sitting on a table with a few of her restaurant supervisors and Jamie sitting in chairs around her. There’s music playing from the fancy stereo system hidden in the walls. People are all gathered in groups with plates of food, laughing and having a good time. You can tell who has to go back to work later based on their drink choice.

“Happy retirement!” Luke says. He and Sam walk over to the little group of the food staff. Luke claps a hand on Jamie’s back, trying to stress the new connection between them. Jamie moved into the apartment between Ashton and Harry’s last week and everyone on the floor is trying to make him feel welcome. They’d had their normal weekly dinner on Sunday and Jamie had come, a bit nervous. Calum had made it his main goal to get Jamie settled and feel at home in their little group.

“Thanks. I’m officially off the clock for the first time since we built this damn hotel,” Hayley says it with a warm smile on her face. Luke gets it though. When you put as much effort into something as they’ve put into this project, you never really want to be off the clock. Doesn’t mean it isn’t exhausting.

“I’m going to get a drink, anyone else want anything?” Luke asks. Everyone else shakes their head but Sam who asks for a glass of white wine. Luke leaves to go find the bar.

They have a small bar set up in the back and Luke heads for it, seeing a familiar face behind it. “Well, look who got demoted.” Luke takes a seat on one of the stools in front of the bar and Calum turns around with a few bottles in his hand.

Calum grins at him, “Jeff needed a break and Hayley thought it would be funny. You know, she hired me as a bartender, might as well bartend for her goodbye party.” Calum leans forward over the bar top and kisses Luke, “How was your day?”

“Weird,” Luke says as Calum grabs him a beer, “Everything went smoothly but it was in the back of my head the whole day.” Calum nods, not needing clarification to know Luke means Hayley’s last day.

“Same for me. Like, I felt like I should sit in the kitchens and watch her since it was the last time I’d get the chance.”

“I’m guessing the cat conference got in the way?” Luke smirks up at Calum.

“Speaking of, they said we can bring down Queenie and Spade if we want, socialize them or something.”

Luke shakes his head, “I don’t want some cat expert psychoanalyzing my babies.”

Calum pokes his cheek, “Come on, they’re nice people. Plus, some of the kittens are super cute,” Calum wiggles his eyebrows, trying to be enticing.

Luke takes a sip of his beer, “I still can’t believe Louis said yes to letting them come here.”

Calum looks shocked, “You’re the one who convinced him.”

Luke tries to keep a serious face when he says, “No I wasn’t.” Calum just laughs loudly at that, grabbing his stomach as the sound echoes.

Jeff comes back then. They grab a glass of wine for Sam and walk back to the growing group of people surrounding Hayley to say goodbye.

*****

The party dies down around ten. All the staff are back to work and the people who came in for the party all left. The only people left in the room are sitting around one table in the corner.

Andy and Hayley are sitting on Luke’s right, laughing at some of the cards different employees gave Hayley. Luke can tell she’s been riding the emotions but as soon as it all stops she’s going to fall. Louis and Harry are sat next to them with Grace and Ashton on their right. Harry and Grace are bickering about something like siblings and Louis and Ashton are adding commentary, their jokes giving the group pause to laugh every few seconds.

Calum’s sitting on Luke’s left at the circular table. Their hands are clasped under the table in Calum’s lap. They’re not talking, both kind of observing the other couples at the table.

It’s odd for Luke to think he and Calum have been together the longest out of the group. They’re the two youngest, came into this hotel with the least experience. Yet somehow they made it work. Luke can remember being in each of the three stages of his relationship with Calum that he sees around this table. There’s Hayley and Andy, trying hard to make something work because they know it’s worth it. Grace and Ashton, who are planning a wedding for next summer, and realizing that this is it for them. And then Harry and Louis, married for about five years now, who can’t remember what it’s like not to be together anymore.

And then Luke looks over at Calum. Calum turns his head and meets his eyes. There’s that same smile there that makes Luke’s heart speed up, that feeling that Calum is there for him more than anything else. That they’d work in the small town Luke grew up in or any city in the world, none of that matters. All that matters is that Luke and Calum somehow found each other through too many obstacles and lucky breaks and now they’re here, holding hands under a table, married for a decade, and still in love with each other.

Luke leans forward and places his lips right next to the shell of Calum’s ear and whispers, “I love you.” He presses a kiss to Calum’s hair line. Calum turns his head and brushes his lips against Luke’s, just a few sweeps, but everyone at the table is already complaining.

“Jesus, will you two quit being disgusting? You’d think after so many years they’d be sick of each other,” Ashton says, throwing a balled up napkin at their heads.

Calum pulls back just an inch, grabbing the napkin and throwing it back at Ashton, “Wait until you’ve all been married this long, then we’ll see who’s disgusting.”

Luke watches as all the couples look at each other. Andy and Hayley look at each other a little shy, a year isn’t that long so they haven’t talked about it. Grace and Ashton look disbelieving, they can’t even pick out their wedding song, let alone think that far into the future. Harry and Louis just grin at each other, because they can’t wait for those years.

“I think it’s kind of inspiring,” Harry finally says. Grace snorts, and Harry turns to her and stage whispers, “No, think about it. If they can last that long, we’ll all be fine.” Everyone laughs but Luke and Calum who mock glare at Harry, but even they have to grin a bit. Luke squeezes Calum’s hand under the table.

“Well,” Calum puts his left hand on the table and starts to push himself up, Luke’s fingers slipping out of his, “Unlike some people at this table, I have to work tomorrow morning. With cat people. So I’m going to head up.”

Hayley pouts, “You’re seriously being a responsible adult on my last night here?”

Calum stands behind Luke with his hands on Luke’s shoulders, “I’ll see you soon enough. Besides, I feel like you don’t need me here to say good bye to the hotel properly.” Luke smiles up at Calum.

“Actually,” Grace stands, “I should probably head up too. I’ve got a dress rehearsal tomorrow morning.” At that Louis and Andy stand up too.

“We’ll head up with you guys,” Andy says. Louis squeezes Harry’s shoulder.

Ashton, Harry, and Hayley seem to get what’s going on. Luke is thankful to Calum, he’d confided in him a few days earlier that he wanted time to decompress with the original Team Styles. And Calum made it happen.

“Hey,” Luke reaches up to put his hand over Calum’s on his shoulder, “Will you go grab Hayley’s present from our closet before you go? I hid it there earlier.” Calum nods. All the couples kiss their significant others good bye and the half of them walk towards the door. Calum calls out that he’ll meet the others at the elevator.

And then it’s just them. They’ve been in countless situation like this, sat around a table, discussing something, making fun of each other, planning a business together. Hayley’s smile dims as she looks at the others while Ashton and Harry force their smiles that little bit more, so she knows it’s ok.

“Well,” Harry says after a moment, “We had a good run.”

Hayley smirks and rests her head on her fist, “You still will be, only without me.”

“Won’t be the same,” Ashton fiddles with the edge of the table cloth, not able to look at her when he says it.

At that moment, Calum comes back into the room. They all stay quiet as he walks over and places the gift in front of Hayley. Calum smiles at them. Luke thinks maybe Calum should stay, he’s been here since practically the beginning after all. But there’s something different about sitting with spreadsheets and architectural designs around you while you plan a dream that Calum won’t understand but binds them all together.

Calum squeezes Luke’s shoulder once before he goes to catch up with their friends. Once he’s out of the room, everyone turns to look at the present.

“What is it?” Hayley asks. She eyes the big box suspiciously, like the bright blue paper with sunflowers up and down the sides is concealing something menacing.

“Anyone else surprised it’s not a deck of cards?” Ashton asks. Harry and Hayley laugh while Luke tries to school his features so he won’t give the game away.

“Name the last time I gave you cards Ash,” Luke says. He does’t give people cards anymore, and he doesn’t really get cards anymore either. He still carries a deck with him most places, but it’s more out of habit than anything else.

Ashton waves a hand back at him, “Fine, you’ve moved on. I get it. Trying to ease the tension.”

Luke smiles at him before turning back to Hayley, “Come on, open it.”

Hayley leans forward hesitantly. She unwraps the top, peeling the paper away to reveal the cardboard box underneath, “You got me a santa figurine?”

Luke laughs while they look at him like he’s crazy, “Keep going. It was the only box I could find, your gifts inside.”

Hayley takes the rest of the paper off and opens the top of the box. Luke hadn’t really thought about how she might react when she saw the gift, but he was not expecting her face to break and for her to start crying.

With one hand covering her mouth to hold in the sobs, Hayley pulls from the box the deck of cards Luke used when he did an ambitious card trick on her almost fifteen years ago, “You bastard, I thought you got rid of them.”

Now Luke is feeling a little teary eyed. His throat feel tight and wipes the budding tears from the corner of his eyes, “Of course I didn’t.”

Hayley places the deck on the table and Luke reaches out to grab her hand as she wipes the tears from her face with the other, “You gave Ashton and Harry theirs so long ago, I assumed...”

“Of course I kept them Hayley,” Luke says, voice firm in meaning but shaking with emotion. They clutch each other’s hand and look at the deck on the table. God, it’s been so long. They’ve all known each other so long.

Luke feels Ashton’s hand grab his own. Luke looks up to see Harry grabbing on to Hayley’s other hand, Ashton and Harry linked together as well. Harry and Ashton’s eyes are red ringed, like they’re either on the precipice of tears or they’ve already jumped off and they’re trying to recover.

Harry speaks, voice soft in the huge room, “Thank you. So much. You three made my dream come true, I couldn’t have asked for a better team who I could’ve loved more.”

Luke feels his insides crumbling. This is really it, isn’t it? Sure, it’s only Hayley who’s leaving, but nothing will ever be the same. Luke has spent the last fifteen years of his life feeling just as at home in these three people’s apartments as his own, their laughter shaping his weeks. Their friendship helping him through every step of the crazy process that was building and succeeding with this hotel.

“You too H, thanks for trusting us with this,” Hayley says for the three of them, “It’s been a blast.”

“It’s been...something,” Ashton mimics.

Luke clears his throat. All of their eyes flick to them. He takes a deep breath, “I like to think of life like a poker game,” he starts. He hopes they get what he’s trying to say, but this is the best way for him to say it, “And every morning you get dealt a new hand. Some days it’s crap and some days it’s great,” he pauses, swallowing down the lump that’s forming in his throat from his three dear friends looking at him, “But no matter what, you guys were the three aces I had in my pocket so that even when I got a bad hand, it ended well.”

They seem to get it, Harry starts crying a bit again but they all give him a shaky laugh.

After a few more minutes of reminiscing and holding each other’s hands, they all stand up, Hayley collecting Luke’s present. They move into a line, Hayley’s arms around Luke and Harry’s waists, Luke’s arm reaching over Harry’s shoulders to grab Ashton while Ashton’s arm reaches over to rest on Hayley’s shoulder. It’s a mess of limbs and teary eyes.

They walk through the hotel to the elevators. When they’re in the hallway linking the casino to the main foyer, Ashton speaks.

“Remember that fight we got into about the marble?”

Luke can practically feel Hayley rolling her eyes, “Going to rub it in again now, are we?”

Luke laughs while Ashton continues, “Yes, because fifteen years out, the marble that Luke and I picked still looks fantastic while yours and Harry’s would’ve needed to be replaced by now.”

“Sure you say that now, but it was so expensive at the time,” Harry whines.

“And did it last like we said it would? Did it?” They all laugh at that. It’d been a pretty heated argument that Luke and Ashton had won back then. After, they’d all gone out for drinks and laughed over the fact they had an actual fight over what type of marble to use on the floor of one hallway in their huge luxury hotel.

When they pass by the reception desk, Marjorie calls out, “Have a good night!”

Luke and Ashton wave since they’re the only ones with a hand free. The lobby is mostly empty. It’s still as beautiful as the day the construction crews finished, shiny and new. Luke had jumped on Ashton’s back as they explored the huge foyer, looking for all the small details they had insisted on. Hayley had followed after them, sighing, while Harry had just laughed at their excitement.

As they wait for an elevator, Harry starts giggling, “Remember that time Liam got stuck in the elevator.”

They all burst out laughing at that. Luke puts his two cents in first, “It’s what he gets for being too lazy to climb one flight of stairs.”

“How’s he doing anyways? Have you talked to him lately?” Hayley asks.

Luke answers, “A few months ago. He’s good. His daughter had just turned thirteen when we spoke.”

“Wow, can you believe that? That little baby grew up.” Harry says. Harry had been especially lovely to Liam’s daughter whenever she was at the hotel.

Hayley turns her face up to ask Luke, “So his sons got to be, what eight? Nine?”

Luke nods, “Yep. Apparently they’re all happy and he likes his job. He’s coming out here for a weekend in November I think.”

Hayley frowns, “Too bad it wasn’t a little earlier.”

Ashton pipes in from the other end of their human chain, “Look at the bright side. You have proof life goes on after leaving the hotel.”

Hayley sighs, “Yeah, I guess it does.”

That quiets them. It’s a sudden reminder that Hayley is actually leaving tomorrow, getting on a plane at two with Andy to settle into their new home. Her arm tightens around Luke’s waist.

When they’re in the elevator and the code is punched in, they lean against each other, the action speaking more than the words that wouldn’t be sufficient. They’ve taken this same trip hundreds, thousands of times before in various pairings. Luke has laughed watching Ashton jump as the elevator hit the right floor, has celebrated with Harry for successful business weeks, and gossiped with Hayley about their different staff.

They stumble out when they reach their floor. Hayley turns to the rest of them and they form a little circle standing in the hallway, hands in their pockets or crossed in front of their chests.

“It really has been a great run, hasn’t it?” Hayley finally says. And it has been.

Harry holds out his arms first, but then they all join in, one last big group hug in the middle of their hallway. Because it is all of their hallway. Even though the doors are locked, they’ve always had each other’s keys. The whole floor is one big apartment that the four of them have been sharing, bringing people in to add to their little family. But it started with them and their home above the Vegas streets.

Hayley starts laughing and after that they all join in. The four of them, middle aged successful adults, standing in a hallway with tear stained faces, amongst them three designer suits and an expensive cocktail dress. They must be quite the sight. Luke wonders if the guests would approve of the managers of their hotel holding each other above their heads as they gamble and sleep.

Eventually the hug ends, Ashton going one way, Hayley and Harry going another, and Luke going to his apartment, the door right near the elevator they happened to take. He waves one last time for good measure before opening his door and sliding into his foyer. Luke thinks the settled feeling in his gut is acceptance.

Luke can hear the muffled sounds of the TV in the other room. A huge smile spreads across his face because he knew Calum would wait up for him, no matter how early he has to go into work tomorrow. Luke slides out of his shoes and jacket, puts his key in the bowl, and walks into their living room.

The TV clicks off as Luke steps into the room. Calum looks back at him, his face emotionless, waiting for Luke to show how he’s feeling before reacting accordingly. Calum says a quiet, “Hey.”

Luke starts drowning in the feeling of loving someone. He wastes no time, walks over in front of Calum before straddling Calum’s lap. Luke leans in so his arms can wrap around Calum’s back and he can tuck his face in next to Calum’s. He plops down on Calum’s lap and Calum pulls Luke’s body into his with arms around his waist and hips. Luke loves this, how little space is between their bodies and their breathing finding a rhythm.

“Everything go well?” Calum whispers. Somewhere in their apartment, Queenie ‘mrps’ and Luke drags one of his arms down Calum’s chest.

“Yeah, we all had a good cry.”

“Even Ash?”

Luke smiles against Calum’s cheek, “Even Ash.”

“Did you record it?” Calum asks, hope in his voice.

Luke chuckles softly, “Sorry, I was too busy saying good bye to my friend to think about recording Ashton.”

Calum’s hand over Luke’s hip starts rubbing circles into his body, “After all the things I’ve done for you, you can’t get me one video of Ashton crying? What type of husband are you?”

Luke smirks, “The type who’s going to ride you when we get upstairs.”

Calum hums, turning his face to bite at Luke’s neck, “We haven’t done that in awhile.”

Luke’s hand on Calum’s chest slides up to his neck, thumb landing over Calum’s pulse, “Nope.”

Calum’s hands reach to tug Luke’s button up shirt out of Luke’s pants, hands sliding up Luke’s back and sending chills up Luke’s spine. Luke sits back on Calum’s knees and grabs Calum’s face between his hands, tilting Calum’s head back as a smile spreads wide across it.

Luke’s thumb traces the ridges of Calum’s temples, sliding down to the plump curves of his lips. His face has all the parts of a heart.

“I love you,” Luke says before leaning in and pressing a kiss to Calum’s lips. He speaks between kisses, “So much,” Calum turns into it, “More than anything,” Calum’s lips part, “More than expensive suits and cufflinks,” Calum’s hand tightens on his hip, “More than the casino,” Calum’s fingertips dip beneath Luke’s trousers, “more than cards.” Calum freezes.

“What?” Luke backs up. He had other things to say so he’s a little miffed. Calum’s face looks aghast, like Luke had just told him that Luke had secretly been an alien all this time.

“What?” Luke repeats.

Calum blinks, “You love me more than cards?”

Luke frowns, “Yeah?”

“Really?”

Luke is confused. It’s obvious, isn’t it? He was listing obvious things, not ground breaking things. Of course he loves Calum more than cards. Calum, who is staring at Luke with disbelief, fingers digging into Luke’s skin.

“Really. Calum...” Luke trails off, not really knowing what to say, “Did you think I didn’t?”

Calum shrugs, “I figured we were tied.”

Now Luke freezes, body shrinking into itself. He’s a terrible husband. He darts down, fingers tight around Calum’s cheek as he tries to apologize for how horrible he must me as a person if the love his life thinks he ties with an inanimate object.

After a ferocious kiss, Luke pulls back a bit, keeping his forehead resting against Calum’s, “It’s not even close. Calum, of course I love you more. So much more.”

Calum’s arms tighten around Luke’s middle. They hold each other on the couch, their couch, their couch for the past dozen years. Calum’s shoulders drop and he lets out a sigh that feels a decade old.

Luke's head ends up resting on top of Calum’s mop of salt and pepper hair, “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me Cal. I love cards because they got me you.”

The next thing Luke knows, he’s sprawled on his back on the couch. Calum is on top of him, caging him in. Calum’s forearms are parallel on either side of Luke’s face and Calum is looking down at him, a huge smile spread across his face.

“Thank you,” Calum says softly. He leans down to press his lips against Luke’s temple.

“There’s nothing to thank me for. It’s all you.” Luke turns his face to kiss Calum back. Luke finds Calum’s chest with his hands, sliding down to get under Calum’s shirt. Something feels different about Calum’s body, a different energy. Luke feels guilty he couldn’t do that for him sooner, but Calum seems content to kiss Luke with a new found vigor.

Eventually Calum pulls back, smiling that smile that means he’s about to make a bad joke. Luke asks, “What are you about to say?”

Calum giggles a little bit before spitting it out, “I was going to say that I’m not carrying you upstairs.”

Luke grins back, rolling his eyes. He lets one short laugh escape as Calum watches him, “That was so bad.”

“It’s true.”

Luke’s palm is over the nine of cards tattoo. He gets an idea, “Why don’t I carry you?”

Calum seems interested in the idea, “We’ve never tried that.”

Luke shakes his head, “No, we haven’t.”

Calum slowly gets up, “Alright, come on Hemmings.”

Luke stands up. This is too ridiculous. He turns his back to Calum. Calum attempts to hop on his back but Luke’s already laughing too hard and Calum falls off.

“Babe, it’s not going to work if you keep laughing,” Calum says it through his own laughter so Luke isn’t too concerned.

“Come on Calum. Just get on my back.” Before the sentence is even out of his mouth, Calum is jumping on Luke’s back and Luke has a grip on his knees. Success.

Luke stumbles through their apartment with Calum’s breath in his ear and his arms around his shoulders. Neither of them can stop laughing. They’re in their forties, but this feels like their sixteen and have the rest of their lives ahead of them. Luke realizes technically they do have the rest of their lives ahead of them. They’ll always have the rest of their lives ahead of them, together.

Luke is focusing too hard on not stepping on a cat while he takes the first few stairs that he forgets to balance. About four stairs up the stairwell, they fall over, a bundle of limbs plummeting to the ground.

Luckily, the first sound Luke hears when the shock fades is Calum’s laughter. Calum’s legs are sprawled over his but his torso is next to Luke, eye contact easy to make with Calum’s face only a few inches away. Luke joins in.

“This is why I never carry you upstairs.” Calum says with a grin.

“Guess we’re not one of those couples who can do that,” Luke’s shoulder kind of hurts but he’s distracted by Calum’s hand, nails gently scratching the back of his neck.

Calum’s face goes serious quickly, “I love you too. More than anything.”

Luke feels his smile soften, “That’s probably a good thing. Since, you know, we’re married.”

Calum tries and keeps his face from breaking out into a smile, pursing his lips together and narrowing his eyes at the joke. But Luke knows him too well, lifting a finger to poke at the corner of Calum’s mouth to force it into the shape it wants to be. Calum’s cheeks rise up easily into a blinding smile. Luke leans forward to kiss him.

Later, when Calum’s head is pillowed on Luke’s chest as he sleeps and Luke should probably be trying to sleep since he has work in the morning, Luke thinks.

Luke looks at Calum, the tip of his nose and the pout of his mouth peeking out over the hair in Luke’s face. Luke’s hands are wrapped around Calum’s back, holding him close to his body so that they don’t get separated during the night.

This is what happy feels like. Luke is happy. He’s always been happy, besides some minor detours, but he never really recognized it. His happy is such a constant that it’s hard to acknowledge, difficult to point at in the corner and say ‘a ha! that is happiness.’ But now he can see it. This, loving Calum, the cats, the other people in his life who he cares so much for that when they leave he can’t help but feel like he’s breaking. This is happy.

Calum rises and falls with the breaths Luke is taking in. He remembers being so afraid for the future. All that worry, what was it worth? He used to spend hours dreaming up ways he’d mess it all up. He’s so lucky, he got here, to this spot, where he is happy.

It wasn’t on his own. And god, he’s so grateful. He’s grateful for his mother, who gave him his first deck of cards. For Connie, who took a chance on him. For Anne, who did him a favor. Harry and Ashton, who trusted him when they had no reason. Hayley, for tugging him along and making him see he could do anything he put his mind too. For Mikey, who shared everything with him even when there wasn’t much but dreams and a six pack. For Gladdie, for everything.

And Calum. Luke is so grateful for Calum. Calum, who kisses him like he’s special. Who waits up for him before going to bed. Who stayed when he didn’t have to. Calum, who years and years ago, looked at Luke when most people looked at the cards. Calum, the nine of clubs.

Luke buries his face in Calum’s hair, breathing in deep. So, this is happy. Twenty years ago, he didn’t know that he’d ever be happy. But with Calum’s heat sinking down into his bones, there’s no way he couldn’t be happy.

Luke falls asleep, the smell of their shared shampoo in his nose and the dreams of all the things they’re going to do together running through his head. They have time, the rest of their lives together.

 

**Seven of Hearts**

“You have everything you need?” Gladdie lays down a card. They’re just playing pitch to pass the time before Luke needs to leave.

“I’ll be good for a few weeks, until my parents can bring the rest of my stuff,” Luke takes the trick with a trump card. It’s hearts this hand, Gladdie seems to have high/low but Luke’s saving his Jack to hopefully get game.

“And you have Connie’s number? She knows when your bus is getting in?” Gladdie plays her last card and Luke takes it, “Damn, I knew you had the Jack.”

Luke counts but he only has a few game points and he knows Gladdie had a ten, “Game is yours, so you made your bid.” Gladdie marks the points on a pad. They’ve been playing the same game of pitch for years. They're pages and pages into an old yellow legal pad with their names on the top of the first page. Luke is at 17,684 points while Gladdie trails slightly at 17,623. They’ve played a lot of pitch, it’s low stress compared to bridge. It looks like they’ll never finish this game.

“Luke?”

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t answer me, do you have Connie’s number?” Gladdie puts the deck down in front of him. His turn to deal.

Luke grins, “I’m twenty two, I can take care of myself.”

Gladdie sticks her nose up at him, “Only for the past three days!”

Before Gladdie can give him a lecture about his irresponsibility, he cuts her off, “Yes, I’ve been texting Connie. She is set to be there. I’m supposed to text her when I’m half an hour away. I’m good Gladdie.” He says the last bit with a soft smile as he deals out the cards.

Gladdie doesn’t touch her cards for a second. She leans forward onto the table and reaches forward to grip Luke’s hand. It’s a lot of feeling in just a gesture, Gladdie doesn’t attempt to explain because words wouldn’t be enough for this moment.

Luke doesn’t know when he’ll be back. The contracts he signed with Connie were  good, he has a lot of benefits and he gets holidays off when the club closes. If he stays in Las Vegas on the weekends and doesn’t come home until the club closes for Thanksgiving, he won’t be home for four months. For someone who chose a college a half an hour drive away, that’s a long time to not be home.

He looks over at his childhood home, across the lawn. His window is up at the top, looking out over his neighborhood. The driveway is empty, both his parents at work and his car sold off last week so he’d have a security deposit for his apartment. The house looks lonely. Luke’s heart breaks a bit when he thinks about moving on. This is all he’s ever known. He has no idea what the future holds for him. Nothing could be better than right here, right now, right?

He’s young, he loves cards and sitting on his neighbors porch playing card games until the sun sets. He’s got a best friend who he gets drinks with on the weekend. There’s not much responsibility on his shoulders. Maybe he should just stay. He can pretend to be young forever, sleep in a room with star decals on the ceiling and his mom one room over. 

“Michael’s here.” Luke’s eyes flick to Gladdie’s driveway. Her hand grips his a little tighter, her fragile bones encircling his long, spindly, card manipulating, fingers. He turns his hand around to enclose Gladdie’s hand. The skin is soft against his callouses.

“How long until you replace me?” Luke tries for lighthearted but his voice cracks.

Gladdie’s mask lowers and a soft smile floats to her lips. She extends her other hand to pat Luke’s cheek, her eyes sparkling, “Won’t be able to do that, dear.”

Luke stills. He can do this. He can leave the only home he’s ever known, his family, friends, for what he loves. He just has to keep reminding himself, words playing on a loop going through his mind _opportunity, cards, Las Vegas, bridge, the future_. He can do this. He has to.

Luke stands up, dropping Gladdie’s hand so that he can bend down and hug her slim shoulders. He drops a kiss on her cheek and whispers to try and mask the waiver in his voice, “Thank you. For everything.”

She pats his back and pulls back to look him in the eye, “Go show them what you’re made of.”

On that note, Luke says good bye. He grabs his two suitcases and backpack and heads out to Mikey’s car, tossing the luggage in the backseat. Mikey waves at his grandmother. Luke waves too as the car pulls out of the driveway.

Gladdie stands as they reverse. She holds onto the top of the iron chair of her outdoor furniture set and waves with a wide smile on her face. In that action, it feels like his entire neighborhood is waving good bye.

“Thanks for driving me,” Luke says to Mikey.

If it were any other day, Mikey would give him shit. But it’s not. It’s Luke’s last day in town, “It’s no problem. I wanted to say good bye anyways.”

The drive is mostly silent besides the soft radio and Luke’s thoughts. He watches as he drives down these roads for what feels like the last time. He knows it’s not. He knows he’ll be back and he knows that he’ll still know the way from his front step to the grocery store. But there’s something different now, like he’s breaking apart from this town.

Starting tomorrow, he’s going to be living in Las Vegas. He’s going to have an address ending in a Las Vegas postal code and he’s going to know his way up and down streets he’s only ever seen on TV screens. He might come home again, but not before making a new home, carving out his own little space somewhere else in the world.

So Luke watches the trees as Mikey drives to the bus station. He says good bye to the telephone cables. It doesn’t make anything easier, but it gives him a bit more closure.

“You’re still going to come live with me, right?” Luke says as they near the bus station.

“Yeah, as soon as I can figure out what I want to do in Vegas,” Mikey bounces his eyebrows, as if there is something seductive about Las Vegas. Luke supposes there is, Sin City, USA. He’s being seduced by a job and his passion.

Mikey pulls into a parking space and parks the car. He gets out while Luke slowly opens his door. Mikey comes around the car and drags Luke into a hug.

“Stay in touch, okay? Just because you’re some hotshot going to the city doesn’t mean you’re allowed to forget us.” Mikey’s fingers dig into Luke’s back as he presses his face into Luke’s shoulder.

“Could never forget you Michael.” Luke squeezes back just as hard. This is his last taste of familiar for a while.

Mikey pulls back but keeps a hold on his shoulders, “Call as soon as you get there. Plus snap chat me when you see crazy things.”

Luke grins, “I’ll caption them ‘what happens in Vegas.’”

Mikey pulls his lips together, like he’s trying to keep in some emotions, before saying, “You do that.”

Mikey drops his arms and Luke takes that as his signal to grab his bags form the back and start walking away. Mikey waves from behind the driver’s seat one last time. Then he flips Luke off and speeds away. Luke stands there on the pavement laughing as the dust settles from Mikey’s car.

It’s not that hard to find the right bus. There are clear signs everywhere pointing him to the right terminal and he has his ticket clasped in between the second and third fingers on his right hand. He gets there right as they start boarding and he grabs a window seat in an unoccupied row, curling up to watch out the window.

The bus is large and cumbersome as it drives down the streets, taking turns in a way that makes Luke feel like the bus is going to topple over.

There’s a woman across the aisle. Luke wonders if she’s going to Las Vegas too. Maybe she’s going for the weekend to play the slots and then return with only her memories. Or maybe she’s getting off at a completely different stop, at one of the sleepy towns like Luke’s that they’ll pass through on the way. Maybe in her head she’s laughing at the fools going to Las Vegas.

There’s a part of Luke that feels like this is all going to blow up in his face. Connie and he have only really talked once in person and a few times over the phone. Maybe she won’t like him, or he’ll make a mistake on his first day that will be grounds for firing. Maybe he’ll end up home by the end of the week, standing at the bus station with his tail between his legs waiting for his parents to pick him up. Luke doesn’t know and it scares the crap out of him.

Luke reaches to the front of his backpack for the new deck of cards Gladdie got him. It was a set of two, the Bicycle packs that come with a red and a blue pack. Gladdie has always liked the red more so she gives Luke the blue packs when she gets them. She gave him this blue deck this morning before they used the red deck to play pitch.

Luke breaks the seal along the top of the deck and unwraps the stiff cards. He riffles a few times, watching the cards carefully as he does it. He doesn’t watch the cards any more when he shuffles, but he’s really been missing out. There is something elegant and soothing about the way the cards fall into place, slotting together just right before Luke pulls them into a bridge. Luke can’t imagine anything will ever comfort him more than a deck of cards can.

Luke’s sliding his fingers through the cards, rotating the deck in his hand. He’s thinking about all the adventures he can have if all this to goes right. He’s going to be in Las Vegas. He can go to a casino any night and play against as many good players, or bad players, as he’d like. He’s going to be managing a bridge club, a high end bridge club, a place where he can meet people who care as much as he does about his passions.

Basically Luke’s life can go one of two ways and Luke is so afraid he’s going to do one small thing wrong and slide off the right track. The bus is driving down a lonely highway and the cards are slapping against each other in a reassuring way.

Suddenly, Luke has an idea. It’s cliche and maybe a bit odd, but it might help. He just needs a lucky charm. He needs something that will remind him that he can do this, that he won’t fizzle out, that he’s making the right decisions.

Luke looks down at his cards, sitting thoroughly shuffled in his hand. He bites his lips and shuffles one more time, to be safe. Whatever the top card is, that’s going to be his card. Whenever he sees it, it will remind him of how lucky he is to be where he is and to have gotten the opportunities he’s getting. It’ll be his sign that he’s doing the right thing, to trust his heart. It’s going to be his card, his lucky card and as long as he remembers this card and keeps it in a special place in his heart, he’ll be ok. He'll be happy.

Luke runs his thumbs around the edges of the cards, wondering if he should shuffle again. He’s about to put a lot of meaning into one card and he wants to make sure it’s the perfect card. But something, the universe, or the trees hitting against the bus window, or just his own mind psyching him out, tells him that this top card is the one.

He flips the top card. It’s the nine of clubs. Luke smiles gently down at the card because it feels so right.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're feeling savvy, or are just super angry with me, let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again for reading!
> 
> emmybazy.tumblr.com


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